Do you ever doubt your abilities? It’s easy to feel like an impostor at times.
What is Impostor Syndrome
Impostor Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon where individuals doubt their abilities and feel like a fraud, even when they are competent in their skills.
People experiencing impostor syndrome often believe they don’t deserve their achievements. Someone experiencing Impostor Syndrome often attributes their successes to luck rather than their talent.
This self-doubt and fear of being exposed as a fraud tends to lead to anxiety, low self-esteem, and a lack of confidence in one’s abilities.
Addressing Impostor Syndrome
There are essential things to remember as you address this Impostor Syndrome. Impostor Syndrome is a mindset. This mindset often drives you to compare your work and ability to others – sometimes called the comparison trap.
Comparing yourself to others is never a good idea. Usually, you’ll find yourself taking what another individual does best and comparing it to what you are worst at.
Do not make this unfair comparison. You will always come out on the losing end.
There will always be someone with more skill in certain areas than you. You have your areas of expertise, and they have theirs.
Comparing yourself to others is never a good idea.
Programming is a Journey
An effective strategy for self-development is to compare your current self with who you were six months ago. You can return to the code you wrote six months ago and see your progress.
You may even look at the old code and think it stinks. That’s a great sign! It means you’ve grown as a developer.
It’s important to remember that being a developer is a journey; it’s not a destination.
There will be growing pains along the way. Those growing pains are essential in your journey to becoming the best developer you can be.
Every developer has gone through those same growing pains. It’s part of the process.
As your journey in programming continues, you will likely experience Impostor Syndrome again. It’s important to remember that Impostor Syndrome is a mindset that eradicates truth. Try to consistently remind yourself of the truth, not your feelings.
It’s important to remember that being a developer is a journey; it’s not a destination.
5 Points to Help You Conquer Impostor Syndrome
1. Acknowledge it
Admit to yourself that you truly are experiencing it. It’s the most crucial step in this process.
2. Realize you are not alone
Your peers, bosses, and people you look up to have also likely experienced it. Reach out to others and ask them. It helps to have that open dialogue.
3. Compare yourself to you from 6 months ago
Stop comparing yourself to others. Look back at your old code and see how you’ve grown as a developer in this time. Let your old code serve as an encouragement to you.
4. You were not born with coding knowledge
Coding is a learned skill. It takes time. It takes practice. It takes making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. It takes patience. Don’t beat yourself up undeservingly in the process.
5. If you write code, you are a developer
You don’t need to ‘know everything’ to be a developer. You are not an impostor. You are on a journey as a developer. There will be hills and valleys, as there are on every developer’s journey. Embrace it, fellow developer. You are on your way to accomplishing your coding dreams.
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