Imposter Syndrome

I received this gift from my boss to celebrate my first work anniversary with the company.

I struggle with imposter syndrome on a daily basis. Before the start of summer, I had been made one of the leads on a project at work and during the course of this project, I was thanked, celebrated and appreciated for things I was doing. However, in the back of my mind I kept hearing all of my self-doubt and all of my self-loathing. I replay every failure and every harsh criticism I’ve ever experienced over and over again until finally I simply dismiss every single “thank you! You did great work!” with “Oh I didn’t really do anything.”

Not only is that putting myself down, but it’s dismissing all of the work that I’ve done to get to this point. All of the work I did during my masters, during my bachelors, during my service in the Army, during my associates and all through high school. It dismisses every life lesson I’ve learned and every hardship I’ve had to endure. It dismisses me.

I’ve been working on my imposter syndrome, so I’m excited to read this and see how I can benefit from it.