Walking Past Imposter Syndrome

Everyone who isn’t a sociopath gets impostor syndrome from time to time.? It’s a natural consequence of comparing other people’s cherry-picked successes to our highly subjective internal record of wins and losses.? I’ve been in my field for over twenty years, working on games that have been played by over a billion people, and I still get occasional twinges of “maybe I’ve just gotten lucky so far.”

However, I've found a straightforward strategy which has served me well in getting through those moments of paralysis: Do the things that make sense regardless of who’s doing them.

Imposter syndrome is about doubting my own competence and value, not the value or importance of the work.? (That would be a different type of personal crisis.)? The work still has to happen, the need is still there, it’s just that in the moment I’m questioning whether I’m the person to do it.? Recognizing the distinction offers a way to move forward in the meantime, without losing time to the nasty little voice in my head that says I’m the problem.

Most of the day-to-day activities in any job don’t require genius.? They require care and attention, but there’s no secret to them.? There are always fundamentals that everyone agrees on, things that have to be done that don’t require novel solutions or creative breakthroughs.? So when I lose confidence my ability to handle the big picture, I turn to doing those bedrock principles.

Focusing on the essentials has several advantages.? First, those things genuinely need to be done.? This isn’t about going out of my way, it’s just sorting the order of the tasks in front of me.? I’m still moving forward, still making progress towards my goal.? The time isn’t wasted and good things are still happening, just in a difference sequence.? Nothing is lost and the harm from the crisis is minimized.

Second, doing the obvious things provides momentum.? Building up a record of little wins is the best way to affirm my ability to tackle the larger problems.? It gets me reengaged with my tools and centered in the practical work of my craft.? By starting small, I can rebuild my self-belief task by task.? This approach isn’t about blasting through the doubt, overcoming it in a single moment of revelation.? It’s about creating a continuous flow of smaller successes, steadily increasing until I’m back to working at full speed.? Movies always show these moments as a single dramatic crisis and breakthrough, but that’s never been my lived experience.? There’s not a single point where I say, “I believe in myself now”, it’s about steadily getting back to the place where I’m doing the things I would if I believed in myself.

Finally, it stops being about me.? Imposter syndrome is an internal problem, a tail-chasing mental feedback loop.? Focusing outward, on the work that can and should be done, sets all that aside.? Imposter syndrome isn’t about evidence or logic, so there’s not much point in trying to argue myself into confidence.? Concentrating on what obviously needs to happen makes this an external problem and lets the work itself drive my creativity.

No approach works for everyone, but I encourage you to give this one a shot.? The next time you find yourself doubting your ability to perform at a high level, focus on the uncontroversial fundamentals.? They have to be done regardless and it’ll create the momentum you need to get out of your own head and focus on the work.

“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” - Vaclav Havel