Have you ever been scared to contribute to a conversation or publish a blog post because you were worried you weren’t qualified enough? Wondered how you got to the point you’re at in your career because you feel you don’t belong? Or that you’re a fraud? You’re not alone! So many developers encounter imposter syndrome, no matter their career stage.
This week on the Ladybug Podcast, we discussed our strategies for managing impostor syndrome. Here's a summary!
Tracking your Wins
When you have career wins, like solving a difficult problem, having a positive review, or somebody saying something nice about you, write those wins down, take a screenshot of an email, whatever it might be, and create a folder on your computer. Having that is so helpful on bad days when your impostor syndrome is acting up. You can go through them and be like "Okay, I actually do really great work. So this, this will pass."
This is also a great strategy for keeping track of negotiation points for raise and promotions!
Another great post on this topic:
Focus on your journey
Stop comparing yourself with others! It's so tempting to look at what other people are doing and to wish you were where they're at. People tend to think that everybody’s starting from the same place, and they’re definitely not. They tend to only see the good side, not the struggles those people overcame to get to where they're at. But, only compare yourself to where you were yesterday.
Be open about it
Most people are going through impostor syndrome in some form or another whether you have two years of experience, or you have 20 years of experience. It is always going to rear its ugly head in some form. Being open about that fact and discussing your struggles allows others to relate to where you’re at, and it normalizes that struggle.
For example, here's Kelly's journey with impostor syndrome:
You can listen to the whole imposter syndrome episode anywhere you listen to podcasts, or on our website!
Top comments (19)
Started teaching advanced level React training workshops for senior teams in a very large company, and I have been consumed by negative thoughts in the last couple of months.
Realistically, I am probably less experienced with React than a large portion of my audience, so the thoughts are somewhat justified..
BUT, and I must remember this, I was chosen to run these workshops for other reasons: a friendly, positive personality. Empathy. The fact that I used to be a school teacher.
This post reminds me to focus on those positive factors to cheer myself up, so... thank you! 🤗
Awesome, practical list. Remembering that you do awesome things is crucial.
See also my in-depth article about the origins of impostor syndrome and how I deal with it.
How I beat impostor syndrome and stopped feeling like a fake
Daragh Byrne ・ Nov 9 '18 ・ 15 min read
Great points and it was an awesome episode. Thanks for tackling such an important subject.
I still get imposter syndrome despite having 23 years code experience and 7 years commercial full time experience.
I've got better at dealing with it, but it still comes back now and then.
Thanks for this write-up. Imposter Syndrome can be so tough to manage! I've had my ups and downs related to it, so a distilled list like this to reference when its a slump is a really helpful formalization.
One of the worst-feeling experiences of recent memory for me was sharing with a superior in a 1-1 setting the feelings of imposter syndrome, and the response being disgust and the reply "maybe it's true, then? Imposter Syndrome is a weakness and and a problem". That definitely hit me pretty hard, but falling back on wins and remembering things I've done well in the past was how I got over that initial horrible-feeling gut punch.
I just referenced this on the article I published. Great write up!
Awesome, thank you so much!
Very nice tips
Thanks for writing this and for always being so open. This is definitely a hard thing to talk about sometimes, so articles and podcasts like this are always so helpful and appreciated.
Oh totally! It's something I've battled with a ton, and I think it helps everyone if I'm honest about that. Same with the other hosts :)
All the best devs are imposters. :)
Thanks for the shout out! :) Happy you found the post useful, and I hope it helps others feel less like an imposter.
Such an awesome post, thanks for writing it!
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