I am an Imposter (And so can You!)

Just watched this talk on imposter syndrome by Julie Pagano for an Iron Yard assignment.

If you aren’t aware, imposter syndrome is just what it sounds like — the belief that your current station in life (or a future one to which you might otherwise reasonably aspire) is unmerited by your ability or accomplishments. It’s an issue that even the most rudimentarily self-aware person will face at some point in their life, if not cultivate a long and fruitful relationship with.

Wait. Fruitless relationship?

Regardless of how you define your fruits, the results are usually negative.

When I talk about the pressing fear that your abilities are inadequate, I’m not referring to that urgent sense of being out of your depth that lights a fire under you to connect to resources and healthily adapt to a new situation. That kind of situation is dramatically more likely to have a valid basis — an accurate assessment of your own ability — and therefore to serve a useful function as a motivator.

When we talk about imposter syndrome, I’m talking about a kind of insecurity that is born from a distorted view of one’s own ability, and subsequently gives rise to recurrent anxiety, self-critique, or even paralysis. Because the basis is invalid (a bogus assessment of one’s own ability or accomplishments), its attendant and consequent thoughts and feelings are far less likely to serve any useful function.

On the contrary, they are quite likely to be detrimental.

There are a lot of things we can do to constructively deal with nagging self-doubts. In fact if we actually take the time to unpack them and give each piece its proper meaning, even trite little sound bites like “Be more confident” or “Fake it ’til you make it” can be very useful. Actually, let’s look at those two.

Be more confident

Could you make a habit of tallying your good qualities? People need to feel secure in their world, and some people (many of whom have full-blown imposter syndrome) gain that security by cutting themselves down before anyone else has the chance to. Yes, you maybe spare yourself from occasional criticism, but you also deprive yourself of the chance to learn from that criticism. Also — and I hope your mama told you this — no matter what somebody else says about you, it can’t change the facts.

But if you take up the mantle for them and start criticizing on their behalf and on behalf of all your other potential critics, not only will you not spare yourself from all outside criticism (that’s why your doing this right?) it’s <understatement> just possible that you might make your life a little bit less fun for yourself </understatement>.

So I’ll ask again — could you make a habit of tallying your good qualities?

Fake it ’til you make it

This one tends to remind me of the Thoreau quote, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams — live the life you have imagined.”

Personally I feel strongly that, with precious few exceptions, all people should be honest at all times. So I bristle whenever anyone suggests that I “fake” something.

But if you’re trying to get to your dreams by way of real life, I think most of us would at least momentarily indulge the turn of phrase that takes a little magic. And that magic might include an intractable belief and consequent attitude that — against all prior historical evidence — you are destined for success in the things you feel you are meant to do.

I’m not suggesting people fail aggressively and then rush past that failure to the next one without pause or plan. I’m suggesting people fail — aggressively, if they so desire — and then spend some time really unpacking and poring over what happened so as to best inform the next failure.

Enough intelligent iterations and and eventually you’ll get some different output.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

The Dunning-Kruger effect is in many ways an opposite to imposter syndrome, but it is far from being its antidote. While imposter syndrome is a cognitive bias towards inferiority that often occurs with introspective individuals who may well be quite competent or even skilled, the Dunning-Kruger effect is a bias towards superiority that occurs in individuals who may not even be competent.

If you think you’re great at something, but find that no one seems to appreciate that greatness and get really touchy when people challenge you, you may want to try finding some ways to apply your knowledge or skills collaboratively in a friendly and social environment. Not only is that likely to be a lot of fun, it’s also a great reality check.

But if you have imposter syndrome, definitely don’t try and apply your skills through collaborating with others or taking any chance that might reveal what an idiot you are. And especially not if it might be fun.

Honestly, sometimes I don’t know why you even bother.