In which Wolf opens day 20's door... Watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/-M4zOtsKl6o
Welcome to the Beware of Wolf Advent Calendar of Bad Thinking. To celebrate the holidays, I'm counting down the days until Christmas with a common type of bad thinking each day, described in 60 seconds. This holiday season, give the gift of good thinking by sharing these videos with your friends!
Today is Day 20: "Impostor Syndrome"
Over 20 years ago I was invited, as a guest, to an invitation-only tech conference; a group of about 200 men and women who gather every year to show off their work in progress and talk about their latest ideas- all off the record.
I remember being there for the first time, meeting many people I knew by reputation, and I remember thinking, "Do I belong here? In some sense these people feel like family, but why would they think of me that way?"
Well, I did get invited back and have been attending for many years. And in those years I've seen the same phenomenon in other new guests at the conference.
Almost 70% of professionals feel this way at least one point in their career, and it has a name:
Imposter Syndrome: a feeling of phoniness in people who believe that they are not intelligent, capable or creative despite evidence of high achievement.”
Author and poet Maya Angelou, despite having won numerous prizes and honors once said, “I have written 11 books, but each time I think, ‘Uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.’”
I've come to think of Impostor Syndrome as a sort of "growing pain:" If you don't occasionally feel it, you're probably not growing.
Happy holidays!