Imposter Syndrome

One of the commonalities I've noticed between the people my age who are in their first job is Imposter Syndrome. Imposter Syndrome is when a person doubts their own abilities to the point of feeling like a fraud. This affects some of the most competent people I've met with almost debilitating fear and anxiety. "I'm afraid I'll lose my job when they realize I am incompetent." "I don't feel as smart as my coworkers." "I panic and stress about my performance regularly." These are some examples of the thoughts my friends and peers have expressed to me.

In the beginning, I thought this mainly affected women as a result of undermining women's performance and the biases that exist against women in the workforce. As women, we are constantly told we cannot perform as well as our male peers in the same position. Our mistakes are judged more harshly, so there is more pressure to perform perfectly to avoid embarrassment. However, I've found this syndrome reaches men as well. They have expressed the same fears of incompetence, even after working in the same position for a long period of time. Why is this?

I think the Dunning-Kruger effect can partly explain this mindset. The Dunning-Kruger effect states that more competent people tend to be less confident in their own abilities because they are self-aware about how much they do and do not know. In contrast, less competent people tend to overestimate their abilities because they are ignorant of the extent of their expertise. This syndrome aligns with the saying "Ignorance is bliss." Do you remember feeling like the best artist in the world when you drew your parents a stick figure drawing and they hung it up on the refrigerator, and as you got older you realized your art pales in comparison to the artists who slave over their art for years? If you never experienced other art, would you still think you were the best artist in the world? It is hard to deal with the fact that the extent of our abilities is limited, especially when you are around other competent people.

I think this mindset has been passed down from generations before us. Being on social media has made me realize people in the same age range as I have had very similar experiences in childhood and early adulthood. We were told that nothing in life would ever be handed to us and we had to work hard for everything we wanted. We were warned against being "lazy, entitled, and whiny," like previous generations. In our college applications, we were told we weren't "competitive" enough for only having high grades. In our first job interviews, we were told we didn't have enough experience to apply. This highly competitive environment has bred many adults entering the world with anxiety, mental health issues, and burnout.

If you are experiencing Imposter Syndrome, it's time to take a deep breath. The fact you are even questioning your own abilities and intelligence is a sign that you are indeed competent and willing to try your best. That's all we can do - try our best and trust in ourselves. Take a step away from the present to look back and admire how much better you are now than you were when you started. You are enough. I hope that you can take solace in knowing you are not alone. I hope in the future we can create a more positive mindset and allow people to believe in their own abilities with the childlike enthusiasm we had for our stick-figure drawings.