Impostor syndrome is when you see yourself as inadequate or as a failure despite information indicating that you are adequate or successful. Many individuals go through a phase of impostor syndrome throughout their career. This is especially true if the person is making a career shift or is early into their career.

When it comes to software development, impostor syndrome is common. Usually, the reason you feel like an impostor stems from the fact that there is too much information in software development. There are many things that you do not know, which you believe that you should know. Not knowing all the answers makes you feel like a fraud.

I have experienced impostor syndrome before and had overcome it. Therefore, my goal for this post is to provide some tips on how I overcome feeling like an impostor.

Accept That You Have Some Role In Your Success

You did not get to where you are right now by doing absolutely nothing. You probably have been through countless battles. Many of which you have won.

You might feel like a fraud because you are actually succeeding and growing. Each one of your successes pushes you along a little further and with that comes more projects that are difficult. Eventually, you will encounter problems that are so difficult that you will not have an answer immediately, which makes you feel like a fraud. Next time when you feel like a fraud, take a step back and see if you are progressing.

Realize That Most People Do Not Know What They Are Doing

You will rarely find someone that knows what they are doing without prior experiences. Most of the people that know what they are doing have been through it before.

If you are facing a new challenge, realize that it is okay not to know the answer. However, you must be willing to go the extra mile to go from not knowing to knowing. This means learning new skills and becoming competent enough to deliver.

Do Not Rely on External Validations

Have you ever experienced a rush of excitement when you receive a positive praise from your peers or your boss? That feeling is nice and it can even boost your morale. However, moments like those are rare and the excitement fades away quickly. When that rush wears off, you might feel guilty and pathetic over how much power others have over your emotion just by saying “you are good enough.”

Do not rely on external validation. Internal validation is where it matters. No one should have more power to make you feel better about yourself than you do. It is perfectly fine to feel good when you get a compliment, but you should never depend on it.

Embrace Failures

You cannot have success without failures. Failures are something that will most likely happen especially when you are trying something new. For many, the fear of failure deters them away from trying.

Failures are common in software development and the sooner you accept it, the easier it is for you to leverage failures. Failures are not always bad because it provides you with feedback and helps you lead to better results. Failures are learning opportunities because now you know what works and what does not.

Act Before You Are Fully Ready

Do you think about doing something, but not have the guts to act? Do you feel like you are not ready and want to wait until you are ready? Unfortunately, thinking without acting makes you feel like an impostor in your own life. You know what you want and whom you want to be, but you never make a move towards it.

The sad truth is that you are never going to be fully ready. That is why you need to evaluate yourself and act when you are closer to being ready. The more you act before you are ready, the more you will realize that you will never fully be ready for anything.

When you act before you are fully ready, it will help you see yourself grow. Day-by-day you will notice that you are continually improving and moving forward, instead of being stationary.

Plan and Follow Through

It is not enough to have a great start; you have to finish what you start. Many people struggle with following through with what they started. Can you recall a time when you started a project, but never finished it? Or when a colleague or friend mentioned about starting a project and they never mentioned it again?

When you do not follow through with something it makes you feel like a phony. Without going through the entire process from start to finish, you cannot experience success, failures, and learning from your failures.

Ask for Help

If you feel completely lost, go ask for help. Do not keep hiding that you do not know something. You are only hurting yourself if you keep putting up a facade.

You should not let fear of being annoying or looking stupid keep you from asking questions. Make sure you keep asking questions in moderation. Do not be that annoying person that constantly taps people on the shoulder every few minutes. Remember you are asking people for value, so you should be prepared to offer value back.

I hope you found this post helpful. If you found this post helpful, share it with others so they can benefit too.

Are you feeling like an impostor right now? Have you experienced impostor syndrome in the past? If so, how did you overcome it? Feel free to leave a comment, send me a tweet, or send me an email at steven@brightdevelopers.com.

To stay in touch, you can follow me on Twitter.