Lainey Wilson Gets Candid About Success and Self-Doubt — “Even at the Top, You Can Feel Unworthy”.LC
Lainey Wilson should feel like she’s on top of the world. After more than a decade of hard work, she’s one of the biggest stars in country music. She won the Country Music Association Awards’ Entertainer of the Year in 2023. Her 2022 album, Bell Bottom Country, is certified Platinum, and it won the Grammy for Best Country Album. She’s performing sold-out shows and, in 2026, will make her feature film acting debut in Reminders of Him.
Wilson, 33, should feel like she’s the queen of the rodeo, but as she recently admitted, even this cowgirl gets the blues. More specifically, she feels that she doesn’t deserve all the good things she has worked for.
Lainey Wilsom Amdits She’s Felt ‘Imposter Syndrome’
“I’ve dealt with imposter syndrome, and I didn’t expect to, just ’cause I’ve been here 14 years,” said Wilson when stopping by The Highway on SiriusXM. “I always thought like, ‘when I get it, ’cause I’m gonna get it, I’m not going to feel like I don’t deserve it.’ Or, I’m not gonna feel like somebody else deserves it over me.”
“[But] the devil has a way of coming in and taking his little stick and stirring things up,” she remarked. “And so, I’ve absolutely, dealt with that.”
What Is (And Causes) Imposter Syndrome?
According to WebMD, “Imposter syndrome” is described as when someone doubts the validity of their own skills, believing their success is somehow a mistake. This subsequently creates a fear that someday, people will somehow “find out” and take the success away.
It is not a formal mental health diagnosis, meaning there is no official way to test it or formal methods to treat it. However, WebMD notes that there are common behavioral patterns, including holding yourself back from reaching your goals, being a perfectionist, being unable to forgive yourself for mistakes, and feeling uncomfortable when praised.
Again, since there is no entry for imposter syndrome in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), there are no official causes for it. WebMD suggests that if you are in “a hypercompetitive workplace” –like, for example, a notoriously cutthroat business like the country music industry—and you are “not a naturally competitive person,” this might cause someone to feel like an outsider, like they don’t belong.
WebMD noted that some treatments for established mental health disorders have been helpful with imposter syndrome. Group therapy, cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and talking to a therapist can help process these thoughts of feeling like a fraud.
How Lainey Wilson Dealt With Her Imposter Syndrome
Wilson said that she found relief when she took “all the voices away” that made her doubt her success. “When I take all those voices away, all the ones from ‘the enemy,’ the ones from—even the enemies online or whatever it is, and I get down to it, and I remind myself who I am, who I truly am,” she said.”
And I’m not just ‘Lainey the artist.’ I’m not just ‘the songwriter.’ I’m more than that,” she continued. “And when I get to the root of all that, I think that’s when I can really step away from that imposter syndrome and be like, ‘All right, you’re here for a reason. The Lord don’t put you in places where He don’t want you.'”
Related: Jenna Bush Hager Shares ‘Too Cute’ Story of Son ‘Breaking Up’ With Lainey Wilson
This story was originally reported by Parade on Nov 5, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.Lainey Wilson Gets Candid About Success and Self-Doubt — “Even at the Top, You Can Feel Unworthy”
