You Are Not An Impostor

Despite the attention that impostor syndrome has gotten in the Ruby community recently, so many amazing developers still hide in fear of being discovered as frauds. These developers chalk their achievements up to everything except their own talent and don't believe they deserve their success. I know, because I've struggled with impostor syndrome my whole career. In this talk, I'll show you what makes impostor syndrome so powerful and how you can break free from the grip it has on your life.

As presented at Railsconf 2014

Transcript

1. YOU ARE not AN IMPOSTOR
2. HI, I'M NICK ( @NMEANS FOR THOSE PLAYING ALONG ON MOBILE DEVICES)
3. I build stuff at to help fix healthcare
4. BIGGEST FEAR AT WORK
5. A DECADE
6. FIRED
7. How many times have I been fired in 10+ years of software development?
8. ZERO
9. (but it might happen any day now)
10. IMPOSTOR SYNDROME
13. LET ME TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF
14. AN INTROVERT
15. A PERFECTIONIST
16. A WORKAHOLIC
17. A PROCRASTINATOR
18. AFRAID OF FAILURE
19. UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN COMPLIMENTED
20. FEEL LESS COMPETENT THAN YOUR PEERS
21. YOU'RE NOT ALONE
22. 70%
23. 2 THINGS
24. 1. HOW YOUR BRAIN TROLLS YOU
25. 2. HOW TO PATCH YOUR BRAIN
26. LET ME TELL YOU A STORY
36. THE IMPOSTOR CYCLE
37. ABOUT THAT BRAIN OF YOURS
38. INTROVERSION
39. PERFECTIONISM
40. WORKAHOLISM
41. PROCRASTINATION
42. FEAR OF FAILURE
43. DENIAL OF SUCCESS
44. FEAR OF SUCCESS
45. IMPOSTOR SYDROME AND TECHNOLOGY
46. VASTNESS OF KNOWLEDGE
47. PEER SCRUTINY
48. IN PRACTICE
49. IMPOSTORS DON'T:
50. IMPOSTORS DON'T: PARTICIPATE IN CONVERSATIONS
51. IMPOSTORS DON'T: ASK QUESTIONS
52. IMPOSTORS DON'T: TEACH OTHERS
53. IMPOSTORS DON'T: CONTRIBUTE TO OPEN SOURCE
54. IMPOSTORS DON'T: CHANGE JOBS
55. PATCHING YOUR BRAIN
56. KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE
57. PAY ATTENTION
58. ACCEPT YOUR SUCCESS
59. FORGIVE YOUR MISTAKES
60. RATCHET YOUR FREAKOUT
61. EMBRACE VULNERABILITY
62. #PAIRWITHME ( @NMEANS)
63. KEEP GOING