Do you have "American Idol Syndrome"? Take this short quiz to find out. Be sure to take the test before you read about the syndrome, otherwise your answers may be influenced and your score might reflect that. ANSWER YES or NO:

1. Do people close to you tell you that you are especially talented at something? (such as singing, drawing, writing, photography, making people laugh, etc.) and do they say things to you like, "you could sell that" or "you could be a professional"?

2. Do you vacillate between thinking, "yes, I am pretty good at that" and "not so much"?

3. Are you afraid to put your work or yourself out there to be critiqued by the public because they might laugh at you or think you are putting on airs?

4. Are you surprised each time you get positive feedback from objective sources about your work/talent?

5. Do you tend to dismiss the good things you hear about your talent as "people are just being kind"?

6. Do you feel a little apologetic, or like you are 'bragging on yourself' when you submit yourself or your work to competetions or publishing houses?

7. Do you view your successes as probably "flukes" or maybe just "good luck"?

8. Do you procrastinate sending out your work or displaying your talents because you fear rejection?

9. Do you sometimes feel like a fraud or like your talent is appreciated by people close to you not because you do it so well, but because they can't do it at all?

10. Based on question number nine, do you also have a fear of what might happen when people who really are talented in your field see your work?

SCORING:

If you answered six of the above questions "yes" then you MIGHT have American Idol Syndrome

If you answered seven or more of the questions "yes" then you probably do have American Idol Syndrome. Read on to find out what this means

I stumbled across the idea of what I call "American Idol Syndrome" after watching Idol for two seasons. The almost painful to watch preliminaries sparked this insight:

The truly awful singers almost always thought they were great. They had no hesitation and insisted they were worthy even after the brutally honest judges told them how disastrously awful they were. Invariably the person who was tentative, apologetic and led us to expect the worst, had an incredibly beautiful voice.

I noticed this happening over and over and when I thought about it, realized I had seen this in people I know as well. Probably you too know someone, or have known someone who is truly objectively fabulous, almost at a professional level at something. We tell them and they just don't believe us. They continue to go to a nine to five job when clearly, and obviously to all those around them, they belong on a comedy stage for instance.

There is some research to back up this phenomenon too. Cornell psychology Professor David A. Dunning ran a series of studies on self perception of competence. Subjects were given tests in logic, English grammar and humor and then asked to evaluate how well they thought they had done. People who did badly rated their performances very high compared to people who had actually gotten higher scores on the tests. The ablest were the most likely to underestimate their performances while those with the poorest performances were supremely confident. The Professor believes this is because the skills required for competence often are the very same skills used to recognize competence. In other words, those who are incompetent are not competent to realize that in fact they are incompetent. The incompetents also were not very good at recognizing competence in other people, so not inhibited or intimidated by their "betters"! HELLO IDOL TRYOUTS!

Reality testing is the "cure" for American Idol Syndrome. Put yourself or your work out there and take the risk of rejection. You probably are much better than you think you are. If not, you might as well know that you are engaged in an enjoyable hobby instead believing your are pursuing a possible career or even fame. The truth will set you free. Knowing that you are mediocre at "that" frees you up to work on something where you can find real success and fulfillment.

On the other hand, what if you really ARE that good? You sure want to find out, don't you? One sure thing: you won't find out without taking a risk. Or to put it another way, it is a risk to NOT risk. When you learned to walk you did not wait until someone gave you an iron clad guarantee that you would never fall down. You just put one foot in front of the other and when you fell, you stood up and went again. It is that "just go ahead and try" spirit which will move you towards a place where your income and your passion happily coexist.

Keep this Goethe quote in mind as you move to your own personal "next" level with your talent, whatever it may be: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it"