Even the best entrepreneurs wonder if their success is a fluke.

I do not deserve these words of praise.

I didn’t do anything, it was all luck.

I am not an expert.

I am a fraud.

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These are all things that have gone through my head over the past 8 years.

I have been successfully running an e-commerce business for the last 8 years. Armed with a strong desire to learn and a need to achieve, I created a profitable business that has over 60,000 customers and a 6-figure yearly revenue stream.

I have participated in two Startup Weekends, and I’ve been part of the winning team each time. I won the 2014 Jumpstart Challenge, and I was accepted into the NMotion Accelerator. Most recently, I accepted a COO position with SitStay.com. I sit on the Advisory Board for the SCC Entrepreneurship program and was a mentor during the Engler Startup Weekend.

Despite these milestones and achievements, I’ve always had a habit of attributing my success to luck and timing, being in the right place at the right time. I usually didn’t talk about my business with others, and I downplayed my importance in the growth and success of that business. I didn’t volunteer to talk about my successes because I had this paralyzing fear that if I did, everyone would find out the truth: I was an imposter. I had no clue what I was talking about, and I had no business passing off my thoughts and experience as a success to others.

About two years ago, I found out that I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. I found out that these feelings of inadequacy were common, that many people suffered from the exact same thing, and that there was a name for it: Imposter Syndrome.

According to studies, 70% of the population have suffered from Imposter Syndrome, which is when a person is unable to accept and internalize their accomplishments, no matter how much evidence they have pointed to their success. They are convinced that they are imposters. Successful people like Tina Fey, Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook COO), Dr. Margaret Chen (head of the World Health Organization), US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Maya Angelou have all reported having suffered from Imposter Syndrome.

I’m not someone to let obstacles stand in my way, so with the same vigor and determination I’ve used to overcome every other hurdle in my life, I dove into learning as much about Imposter Syndrome as possible. Here’s what I’ve learned:

Remember it has a name

You know what it is now. It has a diagnosis. It has a name. Imposter Syndrome. Just knowing that much can give you some control over it. Knowing what you are dealing with, and accepting it, is half the battle. Once you know what it is and you can start working on a plan.

Own your success

High achievers quickly move from one accomplishment to the next with little celebration or fanfare. Celebrating takes away time from solving the next problem on the list. The issue with this is that you get so caught up in the next task, you do not internalize how much time and energy you personally put into the project to make it a success.

I have found that detailing my accomplishments by writing on my blog or in a journal gives me a chance to recognize and appreciate the importance of what I’ve done. It lets me analyze and understand that my success wasn’t about luck. I did the work. I had the knowledge. I made the decisions that helped the project succeed.

Surround yourself with loving people

We have enough negativity in our own heads, we don’t need it in our support system, too.

My 85-year-old grandmother confessed to me recently that when I started my e-commerce company, she was worried that it was a fad and that I would lose time and money trying to build the business. She never said anything, however, because she knew that if anyone could do it, it was me. I was amused by this because the confession came after I had been in business for 10 years, and it reminded me of the importance of having people around me who supported me even when they had doubts.

Don’t let it stop you from taking risks

Earlier this year, I made a pitch for a new consulting job. I knew that if I was going to get it, I needed to walk in there with the confidence that I had earned and show that I was the right person for the job. A few years ago, I would not have been able to do this because it would have put me into a position of saying, “If I do this, it exposes me to more people who will realize I’m a fraud.” I nailed that interview, and I got the job.

Maybe…just maybe, it’s not always a bad thing

One of the age-old questions we face is, “If you could go back and do something different, would you?” I always reply no, because I know both the good and bad in my past has helped me to become who I am today. I see Imposter Syndrome the same way. Sometimes it comes in handy, pushing me to learn more, do more and to move beyond my fears.

Remember, we’re all winging it

A big part of the criticism we point at ourselves comes from comparing ourselves with others we admire, people we think are successful and who have it all together. With 70% of our peers experiencing these same feelings of being an imposter, it is important to remember that we are not alone. We are in a profession that forces us to make big decisions based on education, knowledge and our gut. When we get right down to it, it comes down to guessing. We’re all winging it.

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Stacy Carlson is the COO of SitStay.com and CEO of Gotta Pixel, LLC. Before launching Gotta Pixel, she was the Lead Development Engineer for a graphical software application, Micrografx Picture Publisher. She is passionate about paying it forward and mentoring others using the information that she has learned over the last 20 years. She is on the Southeast Community College Entrepreneurship Center Advisory Board and mentors to companies who are in the SCC Incubator program. Stacy and her husband Eric moved back to Nebraska in 2002 to be closer to family as they raised their two children.