I don’t know you but what I know for a fact is you are good enough! Remember that!

I was walking down a hallway at my university back in 2000, between classes when I ran into a classmate going the opposite direction. Mustering courage, I asked him how he was finding the course so far. He immediately replied it had been great, especially the lesson on “multidimensional arrays” that day. He then proceeded to explain the concept in detail.

As I walked away, I thought, “What am I doing here? I don’t belong. That guy is way smarter than me. I was in the same class but can’t recall or explain it like that.” It wasn’t my exact thought process, but something similar clouded my mind.

This type of self-doubting thinking followed me for years – the constant questioning of abilities, the inner voices whispering you’re not good enough, that everyone else is better and smarter. Does this sound familiar? Read on to find out how the story unfolded.

Imposter syndrome refers to an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be. Despite external evidence of competence, those experiencing this phenomenon remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve their achieved success. Imposter syndrome can affect anyone, regardless of social status, work background, skill level, or degree of expertise.

Dr. Pauline Rose Clance is a pioneer in researching and shedding light on the imposter phenomenon. Along with Dr. Suzanne Imes, she co-authored the 1978 study that coined the term “imposter phenomenon” to describe the internal experience of feeling like an intellectual fraud.

Feeling Like an Imposter Will Follow You for a While

I’m not an expert, but I can speak from experience. Feeling like an imposter is likely to follow you for quite a while. Where these thoughts originate, I cannot say for certain. For me, it may have been from childhood, or I was simply born with a tendency towards it. As a child, it hits your confidence and often results in playing it safe, avoiding risks of being wrong.

It can prevent one from being a critical thinker and challenging decisions, because you believe those in higher positions or with more experience must be better than you.

I was hired as a junior software engineer in 2003, but my initial tenure was nothing extraordinary. My boss was a brilliant former chemical engineer who had transitioned into software. Working with him was personally intimidating, though he had done nothing to cause this.

As he would explain work, my focus would shift to perceived inadequacies instead of the task at hand, asking questions. My mind would wander, convincing myself I’m not good enough and will never understand this. I lost valuable time early in my career by not focusing on improving or questioning what I wanted. I just accepted the status quo, feeling that I’m not good enough.

Towards the end of my time at that company, I was given the opportunity to lead and manage a project. Being a small company, I believe it was because there was no one else, so I was the obvious choice – though my imposter feelings may have led me to undervalue the decision. I did well on the project and received good feedback from the client.

During my performance review, one of our directors praised me for delivering the project on time. He was pleasantly surprised, if I recall, which surprised me! What was not welcome, however, was him telling me, “You are not good with the programming.”

That really stuck with me for a while. It hurt because I had been a programmer for 5 years and 6 months – or was supposed to be.

My Thoughts Became a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

What I feared I was, I eventually became. 

I had to come to terms with that feedback, and it was spot on – I was not good at programming. Yet something changed in me that day. I wanted to prove them wrong. That’s when I decided to leave and pursue a job at a large enterprise to truly learn my craft.

I landed a job in retail IT working on critical services running on 15,000 front tills! There was no turning back for someone not great at programming; I decided to take on the challenge. At that point, feelings of inadequacy didn’t matter – it was sink or swim. I swam. It was mind over matter, time to ignore the imposter. I prevailed.

The code I wrote was probably not the best, but it worked and ran fine. That was an important boost of self-belief I gained.

Actions Speak Louder Than Thoughts

It was an important event. I was in a situation where my actions overshadowed my thoughts, not the other way around which had been the case for years. Think about it – your actions are stronger than your thoughts when you realize that, you should not listen to them.

Circling back, your thoughts aren’t going to disappear anytime soon. They can remain with you for the rest of your life. But you can learn what to listen to and often ignore them. This is very important.

You cannot prevent the bird from sitting on your shoulder, but you can prevent it from making a nest.

You cannot prevent the thoughts, but you can prevent them from manifesting in your life. You need to have a strategy to counter these thoughts.

The Strategy

When your thoughts make you feel bad or sad, you know those aren’t constructive. That is not the real you. That is the imposter – they’re negative and destructive. That’s the trigger, and at that point, you need to affirm this is not you, it’s the imposter in you.

• Affirm to yourself that these are not your true thoughts, but the imposter in you speaking. For example, if you want to engineer and code a complex system end-to-end, but your thoughts are stopping you:
• Understand that consistent action and results will build your confidence over time
  • The negative self-talk won’t disappear, but will become less effective
  • Accumulate positive experiences to negate and overcome negative thoughts
• Remember – you may not be as good as others yet, but you aren’t them
  • Focus on improving by doing and completing tasks
  • Getting it done is good enough – it doesn’t have to be perfect
• Create your own superpower by being disciplined and taking action, despite your thoughts. Make a conscious decision to do the opposite of what your inner voice is saying. Take action and start building the system, no matter what. Don’t delay – carve out the time and just do it
• Force yourself to speak up in meeting. Practice having an opinion.

24 Years Later After That Hallway Conversation

Today, over two decades into software engineering, that person I ran into in the hallway changed job directions last I checked, not to be disrespectful. At that time, I thought he was the best and would be much better than I could ever be. Turns out my mind played tricks on me back then.

I wrote science fiction, which we often do as humans.

Today, my thoughts are still there, but when they pop up, I reinforce that I will completely crush the next task or project. Those are my thoughts now. I am a success at impostering. I will win, and today, I usually do.

Conclusion

The battle against imposter feelings and negative self-talk is one that may never fully go away. However, it is a battle that can be won through conscious effort and disciplined action. The key is to recognize those pessimistic thoughts for what they are – imposters that do not define your true abilities.

When the voices of doubt arise, implement the strategy: affirm your worth, take action in defiance of those negative thoughts, and pile up accomplishments. Each small victory will strengthen your self-belief. The negative thoughts will still emerge, but you’ll grow more resilient in overpowering them through persistent effort.

Ultimately, success is not defined by an absence of doubt, but by refusing to surrender to it. Approach each challenge as an opportunity to silence the imposter within. With relentless perseverance and a focus on continual growth, you can imposter your way to a truly successful engineering career that defies even your own initial expectations of yourself.

The path will not be easy, but the pride of proven competence and earned confidence is well worth the struggle. You belong here – now go and claim the career you’ve glimpsed as possible when you’ve quietly admired others. The imposter’s reign ends today.