My friend the Impostor Syndrome

Have you ever compared yourself to other designers / developers and felt like you’re nowhere in their league? Do you write code, but wouldn’t dare to call yourself a developer? Yes?! You're suffering from the Impostor Syndrome. Most of us do, but not many talk about it!

Photos by: Florian Ziegler, Unsplash, and myself

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Transcript

1. My friend the Impostor Syndrome @SONJALEIX
3. What am I doing here?
4. Impostor Syndrome? What is the
5. the discouraging, judgmental, and disabling voice in your head
6. apply for that job. to You’re not good enough yet
7. take on that project. You’re not good enough yet to
8. speak at that conference. You’re not good enough yet to
9. You don’t know enough yet. You only got that project because you were lucky.
10. You will FAIL!
11. I asked 12 well known experts 
 in the community if they experience the Impostor Syndrome. 10 admitted they have it.
12. “So much self-doubt. 
 Constant worry that I’m wrong and that I don’t have the chops. 
 That others have made 
 a mistake in trusting me.” HOW DO YOU EXPERIENCE THE IMPOSTOR SYNDROME? –A WORDPRESS CORE CONTRIBUTOR
13. “I’m a faaaaake! Oh my god everyone 
 is more talented than I am!” WHAT DOES YOUR INNER CRITIC TELL YOU? –AN AUTOMATTICIAN
14. The Impostor Syndrome is irrational.
15. “I'm not qualified for that job I want to apply to.” “They will find out I’m a fake.” Do you have the Impostor Syndrome? “I cannot be a team lead, my 
 colleagues are all better than me.” “This job is too easy, I am clearly not getting it.” “They will fire me.”
16. We don’t want to admit that we feel vulnerable.
17. These 3 ways
 helped me overcome 
 my Impostor Syndrome 3
18. 1I found Community
19. At corporate networking events 
 I felt completely out of place, 
 and nowhere in their league.
20. The WordPress Community
21. People helped each other.
22. The WordPress community has become my group
23. my tribe
24. my family
25. Are you involved in your local WordPress community?
26. Local meetups are the cornerstone of our community.
27. Join the community team at: make.wordpress.org Find a meetup near you:
 http://www.meetup.com/pro/wordpress
28. 2I’m speaking to share with the community
29. Have you ever considered 
 to speak at an event?
30. I almost didn’t apply to speak.
31. I’m not an expert in this. I will be exposed as a fraud. I’m not accomplished 
 enough yet.
32. …waiting to crash and burn.
33. Luckily I have amazing 
 people in my life, 
 who constantly encourage me 
 and lend their support.
34. Listen to their praise! You do deserve it.
35. Speaking at events helps me to dismantle the false statements 
 of the Impostor Syndrome.
36. Did you ever 
 feel like it wasn’t
 good enough?
37. It’s the way we measure ourselves subjectively. Don’t trust this feeling.
38. Apply to speak at your next local meetup 
 or WordCamp.
39. 3I started contributing
40. What big contributions 
 can I make anyway? There are so many designers that are better than me.
41. I simply didn’t feel 
 I was good enough yet
 to contribute.
42. You compare your shortcomings to their biggest accomplishments. WHEN YOU COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS…
43. Failure WE ARE SO AFRAID OF
44. “Fail. Fail a lot.
 Failure is a gift.” –AARON JORBIN, WordPress core committer
45. “I’m not afraid to fail. 
 Failure is part of learning. 
 Hopefully, I fail daily and learn from it, so I fail a little bit less next time.” –SAM SIDLER, Apollo Team Lead
46. Then things shifted…
47. Yes, my contributions are welcomed and valued.
48. We need to stop comparing 
 ourselves to others!
49. vs Star Trek Star Wars
50. We all cook with water.
51. What team should you contribute to?
52. It’s a journey. but you’re not alone in this!
53. Having joined the community, 
 speaking at events, and
 contributing helped me become
 friends with my Impostor Syndrome.
54. Join me tomorrow for Contributor Day
 to start overcome 
 your Impostor Syndrome!
55. SONJA LEIX DIGITAL STRATEGIST @SONJALEIX