Why you will never become an expert…
This article is part of my ‘write everyday for 31 days series’ and is article number 4. To read yesterday’s article click here.
I started working for myself from a young age. In fact, I was still at school.
But now, looking back, I definitely think I suffered from imposter syndrome.
Imposter Syndrome is the idea that:
Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a concept describing individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud” source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome
This is definitely something I had to deal with, as being 17, working with people probably double my age, I had to seem like I knew what I was talking about.
Then it comes to a point when you’re sat in a board meeting with 7 execs and someone taking notes despite that you think: “I really shouldn’t be here” especially when that same morning you were in a lesson.
But I had people congratulating me, saying how proud they were for all I’d achieved. But, for some reason I just didn’t feel that way, I felt like a fraud.
I think the reason for my extreme imposter syndrome was because I had an idea of what a perfect writer was like, but I certainly didn’t fit it. I made typos, I made mistakes, but in my mind a good writer wouldn’t do that.
What I’ve come to realize now, however, is that I’m not an imposter and I was right to question my abilities, because in order to become an expert, you have to accept yourself as an amateur first.
What is an expert?
An expert is defined as:
Someone who is very knowledgable and skilful in a particular area.
When you’re young, or new to an industry, you’re competing with hundreds if not thousands of others. So why should you admit that you don’t know a lot?
Because when you admit you don’t know something, you:
- Appear like you’re less experienced than you’ve made out
- Appear like you’d be the worst person to do the job they’ve hired you to do
Only, in the beginning, asking questions is exactly what you need to do. If you don’t ask, you really wont get.
If you’re not prepared to accept you’re an amateur, even to yourself, then you’ll never become an expert.
What that means is, you don’t have to go around telling everyone you don’t know how to do this and that, but you need to accept to yourself, first, that you don’t and then take the necessary steps to be able to complete the task with competence.
Writing these entries, day-in-day-out (haha, it’s only the 4th day) has shown me the power of being honest to yourself. When you only have a few moments of the day to write, and you only have your thoughts at hand, you’d be amazed by what you come up with.
If this article has resonated with you, or you’ve ever felt imposter syndrome, let me know in the comments below! :)
Until tomorrow, folks!
