Why Your Wins Don’t Stop the Impostor Voice

Have you ever noticed how praise doesn’t quiet the impostor voice—but feeds it? New clients, happy ones, kudos… but nothing seems to have the power to silence the voice inside. Mine gets louder the more it’s applauded. Like success is fuel for its hunger.

And when there’s no feedback? It panics.

Not because it doubts my work, but because it depends on being seen.

That’s the real trap: not insecurity—dependency.

I sat in my car after a session last week. The client had just called the work “transformative,” paid me double for two months, and thanked me with tears in their eyes.

And just after the serotonin and oxytocin's boost, all I could feel was emptiness.

Not because the session wasn’t real. It was. My work has never been so powerful.

But because the moment the praise faded, the craving returned.

That voice, quietly urgent:“Will the next one feel this way? Was that really enough? Shouldn’t you be doing more?”

It wasn’t doubt in my skill.

It was dependence on a hit.

On being needed.

Admired.

Affirmed.

And the more recognition I received, the more I feared its absence.

Impostor syndrome isn’t just about thinking you’re not good enough.

Sometimes, it’s about building your worth around external proof—and then becoming trapped by your own success.

Because when your value rides on applause, every silence feels like a threat.

And that’s the paradox:

The more I chased worth through performance, the further I drifted from the source of the work itself.

So I started something simple—what I now call The Source Return Practice:

A way to break the cycle, not by doing more, but by returning to what’s underneath it all.

1. Notice the Hunger:

When the craving for recognition arises, don’t resist it. Just say: “Ah. You’re here again.”

2. Return to the Origin:

Before the next session or task, ask: “What first drew me to this work?” Not as an idea—feel it in your body.

3. Create Without Reaching:

Say or write something without trying to impress. Let it be simple. Let it be enough.

4. Detox from Applause:

After you share, don’t seek reaction. Let the silence be whole. Let it remind you that your source isn’t out there.

You don’t feel like a fraud because you lack talent.

You feel like a fraud because you’ve outsourced your center.

The work isn’t to accumulate more proof—it’s to return to the place the proof came from.

Take care,

Pierre-Boris

PS: If you’re ready to come back to that place, reply with SOURCE. I’ll meet you there.