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Andrew Smith
Andrew Smith

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How do YOU deal with imposter syndrome?

How do YOU dealwith imposter syndrome?

Top comments (5)

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Jason C. McDonald

I often have to run through a list of all the things I can do, and then remind myself that no programmer will ever stop having things to learn, practice, and master.

I've learned that true humility is a combination of recognizing what I cannot do and recognizing what I am good at...and then cutting the naval-gazing short and focusing on how I can be a help to others. Or, as C.S. Lewis so aptly puts it:

"True humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less."

That's not to say I've achieved humility yet. It's a daily war. I have learned that in that ongoing internal conflict, imposter syndrome is actually an asset. It is far more of a liability in this industry not to have it! It serves as an amazing check against the intellectual arrogance we can so easily slip into. Without it, most of us would wind up "believing our own press releases," and nothing stalls professional and personal development faster than an oversized ego.

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Sumeet Jain (he/him)

I deliberately set time aside to do something I'm good at. Even if it's unrelated. Feeling good about myself is important, so I make time for playing board games, ultimate frisbee, and talking to loved ones who live far away.

On the job, I make learning plans. I've been in the industry for 13 years and still grow frustrated trying to learn new technologies, techniques, and skills. After I've cooled down, I write out a few goals or checklist items related to what I need to get better at.

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Suzan Bond

Yes, I completely agree. When I'm learning something new, or feeling less than confident about my skills I also set aside time to do things I do well. It definitely gives me a burst of energy (and confidence) so I can get back to learning something new.

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Damien Cosset

Spending time on places like dev.to helped a bit. Knowing that you are not alone feeling what you are feeling. Ultimately, I think importer syndrome never disappears. You will most likely always have that voice in your head whenever you are struggling at something. When you will realise that you are getting better at your job, that you are improving and that everybody goes through the same process, it will be better.

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Nelson

From a personal perspective: When I wrote my first article here and before press ENTER I said: I'm a student. I won't say anything these people already don't know and left my article.

But then I have five seconds of courage and click on the SUBMIT button. In my head, I wasn't sure to do the right thing but the article itself taught me two things: one, at the moment of sharing my experience, lots of comments and people in social network left their opinions and experiences about the topic itself. In the end, I was the one who learned more because of several experiences not only in the topic but how to write also. A user approached and gave me lots of tips about how to be more attractive when publishing something.

How I deal always

I know sometimes I don't even trust in my own words but I always have this courage for 5 seconds and take advantages of doing what I have to do. Also, I recognized I will make mistakes so, why hide my human side of errors? From my experience, I learn more sharing my ideas than hiding it.