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Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

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Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#132

Does anyone else get that feeling like, "am I the only one who sees what a load of shit this is?" I don't think it's imposter syndrome per se, but it's related. It's like, "I'm the only one who can see the truth." An example: years ago my old crooked boss brought everyone in to his huge office to tell us why he couldn't afford to give people the pay rise they'd been asking for. With a straight face and with his Aston…

You and I both, buddy.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#133
What's the opposite? I feel like I'm smarter than everybody else here (big 5 tech). Including Principal engineers, CEOs and VPs. I'll talk to some random engineer who might impress me once in a while but for the most part, there's a lot of smart people but there's a lot of dumb people. I consider myself near the top.

I know this might feel like /r/iamverysmart but I'm self aware enough to know that what I feel is not necessarily the truth. How do I combat this feeling of superiority?

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#135
post #16

I might have an impostor syndrome at work. And I am somewhat anxious about it. And I feel like it decreases my performance by quite a bit. And luckily, my managers understand it and are very supportive of me. However, I have a question (and this is going meta). Maybe my managers are too understanding about it. Sometimes I wish they give me a harder time, and feel like I don't get reprimanded for failure enough and st…

Maybe we are all impostors This, a thousandfold. I have struggled with impostor syndrome throughout my life - it doesn’t help that my 35 years to date look like a smacked out Mary Sue fantasy. In my previous business I often felt like I was pulling the wool over the eyes of the world - what right did I have to lead these people, to charge those people, to make these decisions? Well, none, and neither does anyone else…

I’ve always wondered ir airplane pilots feel the same. I mean, they are tested through and through, this should give them some confidence, I believe. But never spoke to one about it to confirm this assumption.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#136
I fixed it when I stopped comparing myself with other people. Why care what other people are doing? I look at myself and focused on what I’m doing. How well I do my job has absolutely nothing to do with how well they do their job. And more importantly, life is bigger than my job. It’s not worth stressing over.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#137
post #133

What's the opposite? I feel like I'm smarter than everybody else here (big 5 tech). Including Principal engineers, CEOs and VPs. I'll talk to some random engineer who might impress me once in a while but for the most part, there's a lot of smart people but there's a lot of dumb people. I consider myself near the top. I know this might feel like /r/iamverysmart but I'm self aware enough to know that what I feel is not…

Have you ever taken a personality test, like the Myers-Briggs type indicator? I'm not saying that stuff is 100% true but it gave me extreme insight about myself. And being able to read about me on paper has helped me change a lot of things that I didn't like about myself. There are 101 places you can take the test but I know 16personalities is free and they haven't spammed me.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#138

Does anyone else get that feeling like, "am I the only one who sees what a load of shit this is?" I don't think it's imposter syndrome per se, but it's related. It's like, "I'm the only one who can see the truth." An example: years ago my old crooked boss brought everyone in to his huge office to tell us why he couldn't afford to give people the pay rise they'd been asking for. With a straight face and with his Aston…

Oh yeah, there are lots of loads of shit out there. But then again it's easy to get drunk your smartness and decry everything you don't understand or trust as a load of shit. A good example is all "this crap" about "feelings and shit". You think it's dumb so you ignore it for a couple years, and continue being an asshole to everyone around you--not noticing because you are just being "rational" and stuff. Then a couple years later, usually after your team suffers silent attrition for a while and churns over a few times with new people, something goes wrong and you despearately need help. Nobody wants to help you because you've been an asshole to them out of your own self-assured ignorance. And then you find out this "feelings and shit" was not "crap" but people a lot smarter than you knew what the hell they were talking about when they stressed the importance of building relationships and soft skills.

Not accusing you of this, just an example.

The world is full of hidden complexity, so be prepared for an education at any moment, I'd say.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#139

Does anyone else get that feeling like, "am I the only one who sees what a load of shit this is?" I don't think it's imposter syndrome per se, but it's related. It's like, "I'm the only one who can see the truth." An example: years ago my old crooked boss brought everyone in to his huge office to tell us why he couldn't afford to give people the pay rise they'd been asking for. With a straight face and with his Aston…

> "am I the only one who sees what a load of shit this is?" Disillusionment.

Not really. Experience induced clarity.

I'm like OP. I've been in the tech industry for a stupid amount of years, and I swear I can improvise a CEO grade speech for any circumstance.

Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?

#140
post #133

What's the opposite? I feel like I'm smarter than everybody else here (big 5 tech). Including Principal engineers, CEOs and VPs. I'll talk to some random engineer who might impress me once in a while but for the most part, there's a lot of smart people but there's a lot of dumb people. I consider myself near the top. I know this might feel like /r/iamverysmart but I'm self aware enough to know that what I feel is not…

Prove it and erase the doubt once and for all.

Too many people try not to feel superior but secretly feel deep down if they tried to prove it they would come out superior, and so they keep a subconscious sense of superiority under a veil of humility.

You will either discover you were not as great as you thought or you actually are the best. There’s no other way.

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