A lot of my friends get impostor syndrome. I thought I’d bring it up because two of my friends just did a podcast together on Peas on Moss. Foodgrads has also written about the subject.
Impostor Syndrome is when you feel all that you’ve accomplished is because you’re a fraud. Whether being luck or lying, you somehow feel like you don’t deserve it.
Stereotypically, Impostor syndrome is shown in high achieving women, though there is plenty of evidence that men get it too. Have I gotten it? I’m not sure, but probably. One example I’ve noticed is that when I present myself as a member of Better Meat Co, I say I’m a food scientist rather than a Chief something something. I don’t think I deserve the title, Chief just yet.
As Seth Godin said in his episode of Akimbo, human culture sadly does two things very well.
It tells you that you’re more special than anyone else
It tells you that you’re a fraud.
Here I write down some solutions that might help you convince the fact that you deserve everything that you’ve gone through, and it’s just beginning. Do note, that this is a widely talked about topic, so if my advice isn’t good enough (because I don’t think it’s good enough), check out this link.
Solutions
There are three solutions that I find useful for dealing with impostor syndrome. They will work depending on your personality. The basis being how much self-confidence you have in yourself.
You are special
Perhaps the most dangerous type of solution is the thought that you are special. However, it works. It’ll clear the clouds of doubt if you think God put you on this Earth to do what you do and that’s why you’re successful.
This is mainly seen in men and there are plenty of cultural attributes that cause men that act this way. However, let’s not go into that.
Ego is a very powerful tool, it’s like climbing a mountain without safety gear. The more successes you have using your ego, the higher you’ll rise up the ladder. But one failure will shatter it all, and if you’re high enough, you might never recover.
Failing is actually a way to shatter impostor syndrome because the notion of entitlement gets replaced with the notion of perseverance. At least, from the multitudes of failures I’ve endured, this is how I felt.
Whenever I think about where I am today, I think about how grateful I am to be here. I grew up in a middle class, an American family, have a college education and I do what I love. I am so lucky.
Luck, apparently the symptom of most impostor syndrome scenarios, factors in every event that happens to us.
Aren’t I lucky to not be ran over by a car today? An accident happened right across my street.
Wasn’t I lucky to win a competition because there were so few opponents for the preliminary round?
Wasn’t I lucky to google food science in high school?
Wasn’t I lucky to interview my co-founder at the 102nd episode of a podcast?
Luck happens, but sometimes, you can only be lucky if you create these chances of opportunities. Was this fate? Am I special?
Everyone thinks they’re special, and whether or not that’s true, what really matters is that you’re unique. No one has had the exact experiences you in the history of the world and that is a beautiful thing.
And perhaps in that unique set of experiences, that is the reason why you can do what you can do. Because you might be the only one for the job.
Mission Driven
There are a lot of problems in the world and having the relentless passion to solve that big problem will help with impostor syndrome. If you really want to solve this big problem, then impostor’s syndrome is the least of your concern.
Perhaps the best example is the mission I’m currently on to reduce animal consumption in the world.
There are many players in this space. From non-profits, to policy, to clean meat to plant-based, but since they all focus on the exact same mission, then it never feels like we’re better than everyone. Everyone is trying to achieve the same goal and having this collaborative community rather than a competitive one, helps wonders in knowing the fact that you’re not alone.
Yet there is a point where the question might pop up. “why me?” This is a feeling where the whole world is on your shoulders like you’re Atlas carrying the world. Yet there are others like you. The best part of being mission driven is that the people at the top are mission driven too. Because the top is mission driven, it’s easier to ask questions. If they don’t respond to you, then you are not worth their time, which might kick your ego down a peg or two.
For My Food Job Rocks, I don’t feel like an impostor because I truly want to make food science mainstream and I don’t care what anyone says about me, including myself. I want to work on my craft to be a better communicator because I know it’s better for the world. Doing my part to accomplish this mission makes me never think of impostor syndrome.
Know Yourself
There is a point in everyone’s life where you realize you don’t have to be the best.
You just have to be the best you.
Being the best is so easy because the metrics is so easy, you just have to make them up.
If I told you I want to be the best CEO in the world, I would have to fight against Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and those other 30 under 30’s I see on Forbes all the time.
But what if I wanted to be the best food scientist in the world? One, there is probably no metric or governing body that can tell me I’m not, and two, no one has really claimed that title!
Of course, this is just one very vain example, but point being is that you need to focus on improving yourself. If impostor syndrome is causing you to doubt yourself and you feel that luck dominates all of your success, then alter your mindset to say “next time, I’ll do it again”.
Impostor syndrome is ground on the basis of competition, which some people can’t handle. If you eliminate everyone as a competitor, then you are just facing yourself. When you face yourself, you know you the best, so it’s easy to win against yourself.
If famous actors get impostor syndrome because they can’t get their next emmy, then you realize that this type of mindset is a dangerous loop of getting to the next goal, or repeating the next success. You might never be happy enough though your life is pretty great.
Mike Posner, a famous musician is probably the best example of this. He wrote a song called “Cooler than Me” which rocked the charts when I was like, in high school. He got so much money and girls, he was a rock star. Unfortunately, his song was just a one hit wonder, and he fell from grace.
Through that experience, he took a journey to find himself by taking a van and traveling all over the United States just living a simple life. During this journey, he meditated, did silent and isolated retreats. Just so he could find himself. When he got back into music, he was different, wiser. Not only did he bring the hit “Pill in Ibiza”, but he’s written several songs like Sugar for Maroon 5. If you listen to any of his podcast interviews like with James Altucher and Tom Bilyeu, you will hear him speak with clarity.
Overall, there are tons of resources on the internet that deal with impostor syndrome. I hope my article gives you some strategies that fit with your mindset. Whether or not they help, many articles state the same thing. The biggest culprit of impostor syndrome is you.
