Imposter Syndrome
You are not different, and why that’s a good thing
Over the years I’ve found that all creatives suffer from the same thing.
So you’ve fooled everyone into thinking you know exactly what you’re doing. Your success has allowed you to take on bigger, better, and more lucrative work. There is an incessant self-inflicted need to out perform yourself; a battle wages between ego and self preservation. While at the same time, each new opportunity poses the threat of becoming the project that exposes you for the fraud that you are.
As the saying goes, you are your own worst enemy. Rather than finding solace in your accomplishments; that tiny voice in your head nags at you telling you that you’re inadequate, undeserving, a fraud–this is Imposter Syndrome.
No, you’re not different, we’ve all been there.
If you are reading this article, then chances are you and I are very much alike. We have both experienced a lot of the same frustrations and joys in whatever our profession may be. Most likely, we have also felt the occasional fear that we are frauds.
Imposter Syndrome is something that affects us all.
At one time or another, all of us are susceptible to this debilitating infection at every stage in our career–it only gets worse with time so you must learn to adapt and channel it.
Imposter Syndrome is not unique to creatives; relieve yourself with the knowledge that the most successful and talented people suffer from this the most.
If you struggle with the feeling of inadequacy, and accuse yourself of being a fraud, consider the possible remedies:
- Admit you’re right. Settle for the kind of work you know intimately–typecast yourself into a role that is safe where you won’t be challenged and there is little opportunity for growth or missteps.
- Admit you’re wrong. You actually do know everything, and there is no need to second-guess your direction or your method.
- Plead the fifth. Don’t admit you’re in over your head, and also don’t admit your shortcomings, you’re simply in the wrong line of work! Jump from profession to profession without allowing yourself to experience the challenges and growing pains that lead to that feeling of inadequacy.
If any or all of these sound like snake oil remedies, you would be right. Because there is a fourth option: Admit that the feeling of inadequacy is normal for everyone, and the only option if you want to be successful is to realize there is no cure, and you must learn to deal with it.
So how do I deal with it?
Barbara Grizzuti said, “There are no original ideas. There are only original people.”
I challenge anyone to find something more true, and more helpful, to creatives than this quote. The simple fact of recognizing that nothing we do is “our own”, that everyone reads “creativity for dummies” more than a couple times, that we all Google the answers every once in a while, almost immediately puts my anxiety to rest.
Your value doesn’t come from your method, the neatness of your code, or if your studio is your bedroom or a penthouse. Clients don’t care! Your value comes from your ability to present and defend a finished product–one that you can stand behind even in the presence of doubt. Your value is your unique ability to take the inputs you have and create something in your own way.
Rather than letting it debilitate you, make light of it. I’ve found that joking about it with my team is a great way for me to deal with it personally and it’s shows them that it’s okay to have similar feelings.
By doing so, my team members often open up and reveal that they also feel the symptoms of Imposter Syndrome. From the new intern to the professional developer.
I realized that, more often than not, the problem lies not in Imposter Syndrome itself, but rather our inability to realize that everyone suffers from it at some point, and then comparing our inner self to the projected versions of everyone else.
How to make Imposter Syndrome work for you…
Take pride when you kill it–yes, be humble, give credit, but always have something to point to (even if it’s just for yourself) and say “Wow, I nailed that.” It’s a small reminder that you do have talent. Nobody gets to where you are on sheer luck.
GET TO WORK–inspiration is great, but stop comparing yourself or trying to emulate what other creatives are doing.
Spend more time on actually honing your skill–put your head down and work. The more you work, the less time you have to think about what could go wrong. The more you work, the more you learn. The more you work, the more Imposter Syndrome becomes an obstacle to be overcome, than an insurmountable obstruction.
Praise others–I think the best way to dispel impostor syndrome is to lift someone else up–give real, genuine compliments with no strings attached. The more you do this, you recognize where you once were in where they are now, and the progress you’ve made since then becomes much more real.
We don’t have all the answers, but we can be the mechanism that creates something worth more than the sum of its parts. Every one of us could sit in a room and, after receiving the same instruction, create something completely unique, valuable, and beautiful.
If that’s how we define fraud, then yes, I’m a fraud, you’re a fraud, we’re all frauds. And we should own that.
Jonathan Speh is an award-winning designer and Art Director at Idea Booth, a creative think tank specializing in disruptive ideas.
If you liked this article, feel free to recommend it or share it with friends. Respond to this article so we can start a conversation.
