Barrels of ink has been spilled discussing Imposter Syndrome over the last several years. For those who are still unaware (and consider yourself fortunate if you are), Imposter Syndrome is when competent and credentialed people feel a sense of unworthiness, as if they are frauds and they don’t belong inside whatever endeavor they’ve chosen to pursue. This pop-psychology phenomena (seriously, it’s not in the DSM) has been written and talked about ad-nauseum in our post-MeToo world. However, what these cheerleaders authors seem to miss is that not everyone has had this experience, despite writing as if that’s the case.
I for one have never really had this experience. I know, I know; I can practically hear the pitchfork-wielding angry mob now. “Dan, you’re a data point of one and hence you aren’t a representative sample!”. While it’s certainly true that my personal experience is anecdotal, the Linkedinfluencers (barf) never bring any hard data to the discussion, so complaining about sample size is irrelevant.
I had the opposite problem of Imposter Syndrome back in my early 20’s. Rather than feeling like I didn’t belong, my ego was out of control. Early 20’s-me thought he was King Shit. To a certain extent, it wasn’t hard to see why, I was much of the way through/just finished a STEM degree, lost 125 pounds, survived pancreatitis, and overcame my biggest internal obstacle. In short, I was on a fucking hot streak, and an industry full of socialists was about to find out how fucking awesome I was.
This isn’t to say that my ego didn’t need to be checked at times though, and the shittiest job I’ve ever worked made sure to do plenty of that. It was a real break ‘em down and build ‘em back up approach, except they skimped on that second part. The latter half of that plan requires you to give a shit about the employees (hint: they didn’t). However, looking back, I’ll admit that my 22–to-25-year-old self absolutely needed to have my ego deflated a bit. I’ve met more than a few folks in that age bracket since then who have the same issue to know that I was hardly an isolated incident.
Clearly, our modern culture dislikes egotistical people. Athletes such as LeBron James, Floyd Mayweather, and countless others have been universally loathed for being cocky. A large part of the reason the radical-left dislikes Donald Trump with such a fervor that Ben Carson doesn’t see is due to ego. Ditto for business (Jack Welch, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk, anyone?) and entertainment (James Corden and Jay-Z are common examples) as well. Authors such as Ryan Holiday, Jocko Willink, Jon Acuff, Mark Manson and many more from the Self-Help Industrial Complex (and make no mistake it is an industrial complex) have spoken loud and clear; having a big ego is bad.
Let’s not mince words; in certain situations, being egotistical is bad. However, ego can also be an incredibly positive thing as well, and nobody will admit that. Having an outsized belief in yourself can-and has-propelled people to succeed in endeavors that 99% of us wouldn’t have attempted due to pressure to conform. early career Kanye is a prime example of this, as was prime Larry Bird and the afore-mentioned Steve Jobs. My point is that ego is helpful in situations that involve risk-taking, competition, and making a name for oneself. Though, good luck telling that to a TikTok psychologist.
I also get jealous from time-to-time regarding my career path (no, not that one). This usually happens in stages, in which I’d witness someone else getting something that I wanted, followed by some temporary resentment on my part (even regarding strangers or people that I’ve liked). However, after steeping in my own bitterness, I ask myself What’s he doing right that I’m not doing right? This question causes me to take stock, learn, and then adjust my strategy as necessary. I also occasionally get jealous when others talk about their past/current athletic endeavors if they’ve significantly surpassed mine. After being needlessly bitter (to be 100% clear, is strictly a me problem), I make sure to hit the next workout hard. See, jealousy has some benefits. It’s almost like jealousy and bitterness are great short-term motivators or something…
That sharp rise in temperature you just felt was the angry mob lighting their torches, though ask me how much sleep I’ll lose over it tonight. Unfortunately, you won’t find a pro-jealousy narrative in our culture. Christians would point to their governing document and proclaim that Envy is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. We mock the jealous ex–lover in our entertainment, in sports we call the jealous competitor a sore loser in a ridiculing tone, and armchair psychologists pen dumbass articles such as How to Not Be Jealous, as if we can just turn off something we’re hard-wired for.
Unlike ego or jealousy, there doesn’t seem to be a clear advantage to having the pseudo-mental illness called Impostor Syndrome. Self-diagnosing, typically in the most public way possible via social media, is often revered as a positive thing. Thanks to all of these writers who were mis-incentivized and under pressure to hit quota polluting the airwaves about how supposedly so many successful people deal with this feeling, it’s now en vogue to have Impostor Syndrome. In a weird way, it’s become accepted-dare I even say cool-to admit to chronic incompetence-induced-insecurity.
But here’s the thing with all of these trendy articles and tweets regarding Impostor Syndrome; the conversation never goes anywhere. Yes, you read that right, and yes, I’m serious. Other than encouraging a chorus of yeah, me too from the peanut gallery, nothing fruitful is actually said. What always follows is a half-assed effort to combat the non-disease. Does anybody seriously think that supposed high achievers have never thought to remind themselves of what they’ve done or to talk to someone?
Maybe, just maybe, Impostor Syndrome is just your subconscious trying to tell you something. That screeching noise you hear in the distance is the sound of everyone collectively sharpening their pitchforks, though I’ll refer them to the great philosopher Big Sean. Our culture has been saying for centuries that we ought to trust our gut feelings, thus those who suffer (I’m being generous with that term) from prolonged bouts of Impostor Syndrome might need to take a hard a look in the mirror.
Maybe those who indefinitely suffer from Impostor Syndrome haven’t put in their 10,000 hours of practice, studied hard enough, or have enough tangible experience in their chosen endeavor. Seriously, do you think that Bruce Lee ever dealt with this made-up disease? It’s at least a plausible hypothesis with an actionable subtext (get your ass back to the grind), which is far more than these pro-impostor syndrome cheerleaders ever actually provide.
Want to cure Impostor Syndrome? Shut up and grind…
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