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Ask HN: What ways have worked for you to overcome 'imposter syndrome'?

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Re: Ask HN: What ways have worked for you to overcome 'imposter syndrome'?

#31

Post by inopinatus »

Not sure I ever want to overcome that feeling, just channel it into motivation instead. Don't see all those smart people as your competition, see them as potential hires or colleagues, people to learn from. And when everyone realises all the other high performers feel the same way, then everyone gets a little kinder to one another. That's been a pillar of all the high-functioning teams I've been lucky enough to be part of.

Litmus test: if you ever think you might be the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room.

Re: Ask HN: What ways have worked for you to overcome 'imposter syndrome'?

#33

Post by droopybuns »

Get older.

Also- understand that there is a big difference between competency and imposter syndrome. A lot of young people confuse the concepts.

Competency means you knows the limits of your knowledge. Expertise means you know one thing exceptionally well. It is easy to stumble into competency- and people around you will mistake it for expertise. When this happens, you will feel like you are impostering. This is because you know the subject well enough to recognize the inaccuracy of your celebratory peers.

Be calm and be patient.

Re: Ask HN: What ways have worked for you to overcome 'imposter syndrome'?

#35

Post by good_vibes »

trcollinson wrote: post #30
good_vibes wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right. My biggest issue with shipping is perfectionism. I guess I should lower my standards a little and just allow myself to look a little foolish just to keep progressing. I'm not Mark Zuckerberg, there is nothing wrong with that.

One thing to keep in mind is you should not compare yourself to what Mark Zuckerberg is right now. You're at the beginning of a path and he is much further along. When you boil down Facebook to what it was originally when he shipped it was a rather good idea, written as a crud app in php, and looked like this: https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrinknp_800_800/AAEAAQAAAAA... Ship, learn, iterate.

Yeah, you're right. Happiness = Reality - Expectations.

I should put a LOT less pressure on myself and just focus on the process. Reading through this thread tells me I need to adjust some of my underlying beliefs about intrinsic/extrinsic motivation.

Re: Ask HN: What ways have worked for you to overcome 'imposter syndrome'?

#36

Post by good_vibes »

inopinatus wrote: post #31

Not sure I ever want to overcome that feeling, just channel it into motivation instead. Don't see all those smart people as your competition, see them as potential hires or colleagues, people to learn from. And when everyone realises all the other high performers feel the same way, then everyone gets a little kinder to one another. That's been a pillar of all the high-functioning teams I've been lucky enough to be pa…

this is something to definitely keep in mind. i've noticed that people I admire are usually pretty nice about helping out someone just starting out or struggling on a project.

this is exactly why I spend more time on HN than reddit, I feel like the dumbest person in this room :)

Re: Ask HN: What ways have worked for you to overcome 'imposter syndrome'?

#37

Post by cprayingmantis »

Give a little talk about something you're really passionate about and interested in. Make it so that it generates a lot of questions. Once you get people talking about your area of expertise you'll start to feel better about what you know. That's what worked for me anyways.

Re: Ask HN: What ways have worked for you to overcome 'imposter syndrome'?

#38

Post by vvanders »

hajak wrote: post #2

I would say it never goes away. I have built companies, angel invested, ran M&A. Still, I always think I am clueless. I am starting to view it more as a power. "You cannot learn what you already think you know". Having imposter's syndrome means I always will fight harder to get better.

This is excellent. There's definitely an element of being called out on something you don't know in detail acting as a forcing function of curiosity/learning.

Re: Ask HN: What ways have worked for you to overcome 'imposter syndrome'?

#39

Post by droithomme »

> A lot of people on HN grew up in wealthier families, and perhaps never had to work a manual labor job.

Speak for yourself. I find this offensive. But maybe you are right since a large number of people here have upvoted this to be top post.

> If the average worker lifts 100 boxes per day, you just have to lift 100 boxes and you know you are doing the work correctly. You deserve to be there.

Deserve to be there? Wow. I won't say what I am really thinking right now. I think I'll go have a few beers and hope I calm down. Hopefully some day you will talk this trash to us in person rather than anonymously on some board.

Re: Ask HN: What ways have worked for you to overcome 'imposter syndrome'?

#40

Post by [deleted] »

CryoLogic wrote: post #28

So here's an interesting thought: A lot of people on HN grew up in wealthier families, and perhaps never had to work a manual labor job. If the average worker lifts 100 boxes per day, you just have to lift 100 boxes and you know you are doing the work correctly. You deserve to be there. In manual labor, you never have imposter syndrome if you are doing the work right. Why? It's extremely easy to mentally calculate yo…

[deleted]
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