Does Impostor Sydrome Go Away?

Does Impostor Sydrome Go Away?

NO! But we can learn to not be controlled by its. Recently I was thrust into a new position with and assigned a leadership role. Armed with only my wits and a smile I had to prove to the team that I was not going to drag them down. But first I had to prove it to myself. This wouldn't be the last time I would sit in my car outside the office and try to convince myself not to just give up and drive home.

I have been developing in high pressure environments for 10 years in multiple languages and frameworks that deliver exciting content to millions of users around the world. I have led teams and successfully run my own company. One might think that all this experience would save me from Impostor Syndrome but it doesn't.

Some people say "Fake it until you make it". Don't tell that to your boss but I can't give better advice myself. A long time ago a friend told me, "Someone hired you and is paying you money, obviously they think you can do the work so just do the work." That is all that ever worked for me. I was never able to internalize that I was good enough, but to belive that someone else had faith in me was something I could not refute immediately and thus it gave me some solace.

The truth about Impostor Syndrome is its the nature of our brains to try and protect us from pain. Fear of rejection or failure leads some of us to flee from risk, there is nothing wrong with. You are the happy owner of a human brain and while it didn't come with an owners manual it is yours to train. I often think of my mind like a pet. If I treat it well and give it the right reinforcement I can make it do tricks. Externalizing my worth is a trick I have learned to help me avoid the debilitating feeling of low internal self worth.

Accept your weaknesses and learn to work with them. I hope this trick helps you be more productive and confident. If you have your own tricks I would love to hear how it helps you get through difficult situations.

Remember keep your eyes forward and keep working, I believe in you and you are doing fine!

To view or add a comment, sign in

More articles by Paul Scarrone

  • Tools that made me happy in `24

    Tools that made me happy in `24

    A short list of the "new" tech I used last year that made me very happy. In #DevEx tradition, these are about Dev…

  • An Internet of Changing Morality

    An Internet of Changing Morality

    As one might expect, Automated Imitation has dramatically changed the sales position for what it is to produce code and…

  • Planning for the corners in software design

    Planning for the corners in software design

    The critical skill that is an indicator of success when designing software is planning for the corner cases. I often…

  • Learning a new Language (The slow way)

    Learning a new Language (The slow way)

    How to learn a new programming language? Of course, there are numerous good reasons to learn a new programming…

    3 Comments
  • Monolith Deconstruction: Phase 0 a Future World

    Monolith Deconstruction: Phase 0 a Future World

    Atomic and heterogeneous Does Conway's Law imply that your development and deployment processes must be homogenous? How…

  • I Love Being An Interviewer

    I Love Being An Interviewer

    I am sure that some of you may look at interviewing like going to the dentist. Fundamentally, it's not a terrible…

    5 Comments
  • Written Culture: Metaphor of the Lake

    Written Culture: Metaphor of the Lake

    Written Culture "Podcast 1" Welcome to 2022 In the time of resolutions, here is one for you. I would like to…

  • Is Pragmatism a Dogma in Software?

    Is Pragmatism a Dogma in Software?

    Considering the influence of the seminal text, The Pragmatic Programmer, I often consider the intention of the lessons…

    2 Comments
  • The Good Sergeant

    The Good Sergeant

    As I age in my software development career, I find myself falling into unofficial #management roles. Analogous to a…

    1 Comment
  • Thank You for Your Code Review

    Thank You for Your Code Review

    In July, I joined the PhalconPHP documentation team. It has been an amazing experience and I wanted to give you some of…

Insights from the community

Others also viewed

Explore topics