Imposter syndrome

I have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety in the past. And I am sure some of my self doubt comes from that but I am not too sure if I need to see a professional about this. But I will look into it :slight_smile:

@galliver Thanks for all the tips :slight_smile:

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One tiny thing I like to do if I’m doubting myself before an event is repeat the phrase, “Lord, give me the confidence of a mediocre white man.”

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:joy::joy::joy::joy:

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I understand, but do be aware that this is a factor influencing your view of yourself. We are so often more critical of ourselves than anyone else. Sometimes we have to remember to treat ourselves with kindness.

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:joy: :joy:

May I borrow that?

Working in a pure male but not pure white environment. I won’t use “white”, only “men” would be working perfect for me :sunglasses:

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Take it with my compliments! :laughing:

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The people who are blaming “affirmative action” for the hiring of perfectly qualified and competent women and POC are dicks. If you want to do some armchair psychology, they are probably also feeling some insecurity/imposter syndrome about the fact there are new, smart and talented people they now have to compete with for jobs.

I might have a little bit too high self esteem/high narcissism for this to resonate, but I get through my imposter syndrome by looking around and seeing that a lot of my peers (and honestly supervisors) are teeeeeeerrible at their jobs. Or at least as confused and lost feeling as I am. Look at all these super smart, caring people on this forum that all have strategies for dealing with imposter syndrome! Are those men who are complaining about affirmative action really particularly competent? I would bet not.

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+1 to everything @darlingpants said!! even michelle obama is like “i have been in rooms with all these assholes and they are not that smart” (i may be paraphrasing …)

at a certain point, though, reasoning with yourself and getting hyped by us may not be enough, because these feelings may come from a pre-rational place within yourself. if you feel like that might be the case, some sessions with a social-justice-oriented therapist could really help. not because something is wrong with you, but because you deserve to have a trained, skilled person by your side to help you dismantle some of the garbage that our racist and sexist culture has put on you :two_hearts:

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I think I interpret working with idiots is that if they employed this person who is dumb, maybe I am also dumb and useless but they keep me around just like this idiot.
:woman_shrugging:t4:

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Well she didn’t say everyone’s an idiot, just that they aren’t smarter than everyone else. :joy:

For me, if I feel about as capable as the folks around me — less than some, more than others, that feels about right.

After a lifetime of trying to be amazing (my chaotic childhood meant being amazing was how I got love), I am finally getting to the point where that is no longer my focus. My focus instead is to show up and do what I can while also protecting my own energy and mental health. My goal at work is not to crush it — it’s to be happy. That means I do mostly good-enough work and focus on building relationships with coworkers, being helpful, being competent, but not being a martyr or a savior.

Does it feel like reframing your goals and the way you measure success might be helpful?

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I dont think I even ant to be amazing, I just sometimes feel like I am below average.

I dont know if I have had goals, I always just feel like I am not quite good enough/smart enough/ doing as well. Though I dont have a concrete goal.

In saying that, this is my last week at my current job (in a company I have worked at for 10 years) and I have had lots of people say nice things to me about being a good worker (and also being a nice person) and that they will be sad to see me leave.

So if I am as incompetent as I think I am at least good at hiding it :woman_shrugging:t4: :shushing_face: as as long as my new company thinks the same it should be ok

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I listened to this podcast earlier today. She goes into quite a bit of detail, so I need to listen to it again, but it was interesting. Might not apply to your situation at all, but it did give me insights into why I sometimes feel like I’ve done/achieved nothing. The next one (#143) on ‘Radical Self-Love & Self-Care’, I found beneficial too. Just in case useful. (Am currently trying to learn a bit more about re-wiring my brain for more positive, or at least more beneficial/useful/helpful/balanced thinking, hence:

TW: Swear word in title

Podcast episode

https://unfuckyourbrain.com/underacting-or-overacting/

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Thanks for the link, I will have a listen :slight_smile:

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