Imposter!

If you’ve ever completed the 8th week of a 12-week coding bootcamp, having built 4 JavaScript mini-sites, a portfolio site, an MVC blog site, and AND a fully functional bug tracker but still manage to feel like you’re not a real dev and it’s all going to come crashing down at any minute… You might have a solid case of Imposter Syndrome.

I’ve heard a great line recently, “Don’t believe everything you think.” I’ve had several occasions to put it to use while working through the program at Coder Foundry. Here are a few examples:

Me: “Alright! I built a pretty sharp looking portfolio.”

Imposter Syndrome: “It’s just some HTML & CSS. Anybody could have done it.”

Me: “A blog site! I finished my first C# MVC project!”

Imposter Syndrome: “meh. It’s not all that impressive.”

Me: “Holy cow; I’ve got a functional bug tracker.”

Imposter Syndrome: “Yeah, but look at (top classmate)’s. Theirs has a lot more functionality and the UI is better.”

I had to actively choose to disbelieve the judgements my Imposter Syndrome was dishing out. Because the truth is, “anybody” can’t just throw some HTML & CSS around to spin up a portfolio site. Building a blog site from scratch in a new-to-you coding language & stack IS pretty impressive. And building a functional bug tracker in 4 weeks is a serious accomplishment! I can improve the UI and add functionality in time.

Let your results speak for themselves - especially to YOU. Own your accomplishments, and give yourself credit for all your hard work. And I’ll just keep preaching this to the mirror.