If you're anything like me, you may have gotten yourself into situations in the past where you feel like you have no idea what you are doing. If you're not like me, well, lucky you. I find myself constantly feeling overwhelmed on whether or not I know what I'm doing and if I'm even good enough to do these things. Am I qualified enough? Do I deserve this? Will people discover I'm a fraud? All of these self-doubting questions that get into our thoughts are examples of a psychological term called "impostor syndrome". Where we live in self-doubt with fear of being exposed as a fraud.
This sounds pretty negative right? Well it doesn't necessarily have to be negative! Being in this mental space where you doubt your abilities can lead you down two different paths. On one hand, you can totally shut down and listen to all of these dark thoughts. But on the other hand, you can use this to motivate you. You can put in extra work in the areas you don't feel like you are fully capable in.
Mike Cannon-Brookes, an entrepreneur and CEO, says in a TED Talk that he deals with impostor syndrome all the time. It forces him to put in extra work and do extra research on whatever situation he is dealing with. He finds that he is mostly motivated by trying to avoid looking like an idiot in front of others. As silly as that sounds, it seems totally relatable and at the end of the day, it gets you where you need to be, more knowledgable and more confident in your area of focus.
Don't be afraid of impostor syndrome, just be sure to put in the work to beat it.
Have you ever felt this way?
Check out his TED Talk here.