"I'm not talented enough".
Do you ever feel like a fraud and don't deserve to be where you are?
People often feel they are not as talented as their peers and beat themselves up. They start to feel like a fraud for being in a place they do not deserve. Developers are not an exception to this.
The following thoughts arise:
My knowledge is not even 50% of what others have here
My colleagues might find out that I am not as talented as they perceive me to be
I shouldn’t write a blog as I am not even close to being an expert in that area
If you have ever had these thoughts or fighting them daily, You are experiencing Imposter Syndrome. You are not alone!
In this week’s post, we’ll see how to deal with imposter syndrome and move past it to get things done. You will start fighting it before your finish reading this post!
Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome is the experience of feeling like a pretender in some areas of your life, despite any success you have achieved. It makes you undervalue your achievements and obsess over your failures, even though they are irrelevant.
Characteristics of Imposter Syndrome
You might experience these effects if you suffer from imposter syndrome.
Fear of not living up to expectations
Depending on external factors to measure your success
Self-doubt
Setting unachievable goals and feeling low when you fail to achieve them
Unable to measure your progress properly
I’m still fighting this
Before seeing how to move past this and get things done, let us take my journey as a case study.
I studied biology as a major in high school and did my UG in Electronics and Communication Engineering. I learned to program towards the end of my UG and got a job as a Backend Engineer. I was happy I got the job with my limited knowledge back then.
On my second day at work, I had to check the code flow for a simple feature. In our project, there were 100+ files with 500+ lines of code in each file. I panicked and concluded that I was not fit for this job. I had an existential crisis for the next two days.
I’m still fighting imposter syndrome as I’m writing this post. But I realized that this is a feeling which will always be there, pushing you to become better and pushing you to make progress.
Imposter syndrome is good as far as it is not affecting your mental health or becoming a hindrance to your work.
How to tackle imposter syndrome
1. Acknowledge the universal truth
Each individual had a unique starting point and took a unique path to be where they are now. Stop comparing yourself with them!
You might wonder how everyone is successful when you go through your Twitter or LinkedIn feed. All you hear are success stories. I’m pretty sure that might concern you a little. It does for me! As much as they are successful, their progress over the years is not visible to us.
Always measure progress, not your goal. No one is successful overnight.
2. Celebrate your progress
Always remember to keep track of your progress. If you push yourself to celebrate only after achieving success, you will eventually burn out.
Acknowledge the fact that you are progressing and moving towards your goal.
Make mistakes, learn from them, and count them as progress. If you achieve a flawless victory, you might come crashing down when you make a mistake.
3. You don’t have to be an expert at everything
I’ve mentioned this multiple times in my previous posts. Nobody is an expert at everything. You might not know something your peer/colleague knows, but that doesn’t mean you are not talented enough.
Specifically, in programming, you don’t have to run behind every new framework that is released and every new technology built. It is intriguing, but eventually, you’ll have shallow knowledge of everything. Select your stack and acquire a deep understanding of it.
4. Network with like-minded people
Wherever you are in your career, I’m sure there will be a bunch of people facing the same issues and trying to make progress. Joining developer communities and networking with others will help you get a perspective of what is happening.
QUICK TIP: Follow #BuildInPublic hashtag on Twitter.
The Twitter developer community is good. Developers use this hashtag to post their progress and issues they face with whatever they are building. It feels good to see others’ progress rather than being bombarded by 100s of success stories.
5. Get a mentor and be a mentor
Finding a mentor who pushes you in the right direction and celebrates your progress will be immensely helpful in your journey.
Always try to share the knowledge that you acquire. Be a mentor. Help those who are going through the phases that you went through.
We always underestimate the stuff we learn after learning it. We think everyone knows it by that time.
What you think is insignificant might be eye-opening for another person.
You’ve already started fighting imposter syndrome
There is no permanent cure for imposter syndrome, but you can ease the process of dealing with it.
Your wanting to know how to combat imposter syndrome shows you care about your progress. It will push you to become better at whatever you do.
Everyone goes through this at some point, including CEOs of big names. Don’t try to resist it. Acknowledge the struggle and overcome it.
Be happy for others’ success, but never let it affect your progress.
Keep progressing, one step at a time!
Next week, I’ll share some insights on Database modeling and why it is necessary to have a basic understanding of it.
Until next time.