Latest / DevQuestions with Tim Corey / 002 How Do I Stop Feeling Like An Impostor? Conquering Impostor Syndrome

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002 How Do I Stop Feeling Like An Impostor? Conquering Impostor Syndrome · DevQuestions with Tim Corey

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Dev Questions Podcast with Tim Corey.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Join us each episode as we tackle the questions you are asking about a career in software development, understanding the industry, and new technology.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you're just starting out or you want to grow stronger as a developer, this is the place to get your questions answered.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's your host, expert developer and online educator, Tim Corey.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: How do I stop feeling like an imposter?
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's the question for today's DevQuestion.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: And my name is Tim Corey.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: If you like this video, I'd love it if you'd share it with other developers as well.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is a really important topic to talk about in the development community.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: So the question is one that I both love and hate.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: I love it because you're starting to question your feelings.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: You're starting to question why do I feel this way and how can I stop feeling that way?
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really the first step towards resolution or feeling better about this.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: I hate it because I hate the fact that you're there.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: I hate the fact that you feel like an imposter.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm going to start off with the very first thing here, and that is you're not.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: You're not an imposter.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: You are a developer.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: If you uh write code, you're a developer.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: I get questions a lot about when do I become a real developer?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Or I don't want to say that I'm a real developer, or I feel embarrassed to admit what I do because I don't feel like I'm good enough.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: You are.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: You are a developer, you are good, you are good enough to be a developer.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: If you've written code, you are a developer.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not an imposter, you're not uh not good enough.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I am not saying that everybody's awesome and that you are the best developer ever.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's not what I'm saying either.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to um blow smoke here or make you feel good.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: There is a line here.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: You are a developer even if you don't know everything.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: You are not an imposter, even if you don't know everything.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: This feeling is one that we all get.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, almost every developer I've ever met has admitted to this.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not just talking about the newer developers.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a Microsoft MVP, I have twenty some years of experience.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: I've been doing this for a long time.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like an imposter.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's something that people who work on C sharp making the actual language feel.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's something that people who are in the industry for decades feel.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: This is not common to just new developers or just you.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that's one of the first lies that really seeps in there is it's me.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's, you know, I'm not good enough, everybody else is.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so please hear us say, you are good enough.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: You are not an imposter, you are a developer.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now, how do you get over that feeling though?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: How do you get past the feeling of you're not good enough?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and and the way to get past that is your comparison trap.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, there's a comparison trap here where you look at other developers and you say they're doing something that I can't do.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, they are better than I am in that.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, I'm an imposter.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I can't say anything about whatever it is that they do because I'm not good enough at it.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's a trap because what you're doing is you're taking what they are best at and comparing it to what you're worst at.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that's never gonna be a successful comparison.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: There will always be someone who knows more than you.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's just how it is.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: There will always be someone who has more skill in a certain area than you do.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: So don't compare your weaknesses to their strengths, because you will always come out in a losing end.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: The only comparison that I want you to do, and this is this takes work, I know because I go through this this exercise a lot.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: The only comparison I want you to do is to compare yourself to one person, and that's yourself six months ago.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: So if you've ever written code and then gone back six months later and went, oh, who wrote this?
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this is horrible.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: I and then you go, oh, it was me.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Don't feel bad.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because what that means is where you were six months ago is a long way from where you are now.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: You are better than you were.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: And that right there, if you are better than you were, you are growing.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: I tell people a lot, you're not born with C sharp knowledge, you're not born to as a developer.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: You have to learn these skills.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: Not just you, but the person you're comparing yourself to as well.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: They had to learn those skills.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: At one point in their life and career, they did not know C sharp.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: So if you compare yourself today to where they are today, that may be an unfair comparison because of time.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe it is they pick things up really fast.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: That happens.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Some people learn way faster than others.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: That doesn't mean they are better.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: That means they're faster.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's great for them.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: It may not be what you can do, and sometimes I tell you what, it's not what I can do sometimes.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Some areas I pick things up fast, some areas I just don't.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel stupid, and I feel like an imposter.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like you shouldn't look up to me because I don't have it all together.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but the reality is if I compare myself to where I was six months ago, I know a lot more than I did then.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the way you get better over that time is not just to just wait.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you have to put in the work.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna feel like an imposter even after you put the work in, but that work, if you look back to and compare yourself to who you were, you're gonna see, oh, I have grown.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: If you look back at your code and you cringe, you've grown.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so even if you have just a little bit of growth, that's progress, that's moving towards we can call it the finish line, which is perfect developer, you're never gonna get there.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's a journey, it's not a destination.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: There's always more to learn, there's always change, and sometimes that can be overwhelming.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll probably cover that in another video.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: But don't get overwhelmed.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to know everything, you don't have to be good at everything.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: You can specialize, you can focus, you can you can uh know just enough to get by in areas, and that's okay.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's okay not to know everything.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know everything.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, one of the reasons I've pushed back teaching Xamarin for so long is because I don't know Xamarin well enough.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the commitments I make when I teach is that I don't teach things that I don't know, so I don't teach it yet.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: Now it's coming, I am getting up to speed, and it's taking time, but I'm getting there.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: But that's an important acknowledgement on my part.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: I have to say I'm not there yet, and yet it's okay.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I am a good developer.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: I have to tell myself that, but I am because I have grown over time, and over time I've added to my skill set and added my skill set and changed what I've done, and I've improved to the point where I'm pretty good at a lot of things, and I'm really good in some areas, and I'm okay in others, and that's okay.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: I am not the complete developer who knows everything.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's there's just too much to know.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: So don't beat yourself up about not knowing everything.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Be methodical, be slow, take it one step at a time and learn over time.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: I tell people that when you're learning a topic, don't just watch the video, actually practice it.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it feels slow, but it actually gives you some more skills.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: It actually gets your hands dirty, so to speak, writing that code.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: And by doing that, you start to add more long-term memory when it comes to those topics.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: And over time you'll look back and say, oh wow, you know, six months ago I was learning about if statements doing that, and now I'm learning about async and await doing that.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's a long way away, and so I've come a long way in that process.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: That will help combat imposter syndrome, it won't solve it.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't have the overall solution for you.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: I can't just say do this and it goes away.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's a mindset, and it's a mindset that will creep back in over time.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I like I said, I struggle with it.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: I have friends who are also MVPs and who work at Microsoft who struggle with it.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: If you acknowledge it, first of all, it helps.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: If you realize other people's struggle, it helps.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you if the people you look up to struggle with it as well, then it helps you go, oh, maybe I'm not alone.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you start internalizing this and just saying, you know what, it must be me, and you don't talk to people, that hurts you.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: That hurts you as a developer because you're you're not realizing that a lot of people struggle here.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I encourage you, reach out to the people that you look up to, just ask them, hey, do you ever struggle with imposter syndrome?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Do you ever feel like you're not good enough?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure that the vast majority of them will say yes.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: So that's an important thing, knowing that other people struggle too.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: But then compare yourself just to yourself.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: When you catch yourself comparing yourself to somebody else and feeling bad, stop yourself.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Mentally stop yourself and say, wait a minute, that's a comparison.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: And instead compare yourself to who you were six months ago.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Keep your code, look back at it over time and go, man, I wrote that.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good thing.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: As you see your code improve and change over time, it's gonna take some time.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I say six months, maybe even a year, as you get more experienced.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: But look back at your code and you'll see a difference.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: If you watch my, and I I'm embarrassed to say this, but if you watch my YouTube videos from five years ago versus now, or three years ago versus now, you'll see a difference.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because I continue to get better, I continue to change, I continue to continue to grow as a developer.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: I do things differently now.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: There are things that I didn't know back then that I do now.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't born with C sharp knowledge.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: I had to learn it over time.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: I had to experience it, I had to grow with it, I had to make mistakes.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's okay.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: So as you're struggling with the imposter syndrome, remember, compare yourself to yourself six months ago.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Remember that this isn't something you struggle with alone.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: And remember, you are a developer.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Best of wishes, let me know in the comments what else you struggle with, or what other questions you have in that I could cover in a series.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: I look forward to seeing you succeed as a developer.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us for this episode of Dev Questions.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Tim is committed to making it easier for you to become a developer.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you would like to help make more content like this possible, please like, subscribe, rate, and share Dev Questions.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: You can also send your questions to questions at IamTimcore.com.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember, you are too smart and your time too valuable to waste it making all the mistakes Tim did.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: When you're ready to learn to think and code like a professional developer, head over to imtimcore.com and enroll in a course.