I'm at my 9th week out of 15 into FlatIron's intensive software engineering Bootcamp. It's been a tough highly rewarding 9 weeks, I learned a lot about code and mainly about myself. It's an emotional rollercoaster, your completely out of your comfort zone and it's easy to start spiraling down a chain of negative thoughts.
In this post I want to talk about Imposter Syndrome, something that I have experienced during these weeks and previously in my last job working for a hyper-growth tech startup, going through various roles, made me feel out of my comfort zone more often than not. I want to shine some light on the topic and what helps me accept this feeling. Maybe it can help you to.
What is Imposter Syndrome?
- "What am I doing here?"
- "I am not a developer. I am fooling myself and other people."
- "My colleagues are much smarter than me; I could never match up to them."
- "I have no idea how I got through the interview process."
- "I will be ridiculed and fired when people realize I am not as smart as I portrayed myself as being."
- "My IQ is not high enough to work here."
- "I need more training to feel like I deserve to be here."
You start doubting yourself, undermine yourself, feeling fake, and so on, these are all common thoughts that form part the Imposter Syndrome.
Wikipedia says:
"Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, impostorism, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is >a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of > >being exposed as a "fraud"
Imposter syndrome was first studied by psychologist Pauline Rose Clance in 1978. Despite the name, it isn't a disease or abnormality and is not tied to depression, anxiety or self-esteem. It is a feeling, an experience, a belief that can be hard to shake.
Why is it so common, according to Educator Elizabeth Cox:
"What makes imposter syndrome so common is the experience of "pluralistic ignorance": while we each second-guess >ourselves privately, we believe we are alone in our doubts because no one else voices their own thoughts.
Since it's tough to really know how hard our peers work, how difficult they find certain tasks, or how much they doubt >themselves, there's no easy way to dismiss feeling that we're less capable than the people around us".
Therefore all of us to a certain degree suffer it at one point in our life. You are not alone.
The more I research on it the more I learn that the one solution to help you embrace this feeling is accepting it, being honest with yourself and understanding your emotions.
You have to change your mindset, be yourself, accept you don't know, but you are willing to learn.
Embrace the comfort inside the out of your comfort zone.
What helps me:
Talking about it:
Opening up, to others, allows you to release those thoughts and you learn that you are not alone.
Meditation:
Clearing your mind for 10 minutes a day will help you ground yourself, you might not feel the effects straight away but in the long run, it will help you concentrate more and not spiral into the rabbit hole. There's plenty of apps out there to help you meditate daily, my personal preference:
Mind Valley.
Oak.
Calm.
Daily affirmation:
Super useful, they help you build up believe in yourself. Express gratitude. Give it a try.
A very nice one I would like to share is
"My affirmations work for me whether I believe it or not." Fredric Lehrman.
In essence, it comes down to our way of thinking and our beliefs, embracing fear and our emotions learning to overcome, most importantly never let go.
Be happy with what you have accomplished and where you are.
https://www.podia.com/articles/how-to-deal-with-impostor-syndrome
https://guide.freecodecamp.org/working-in-tech/imposter-syndrome/
https://startupbros.com/21-ways-overcome-impostor-syndrome/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome