| You're a couple years into developing and feel like an imposter? Welcome to the club! Literally every programmer I know has been wracked by doubts and existential dread over their skills. I've mentored a lot of interns and I always stress how impostor syndrome is normal, everyone gets it, including everyone above them in their teams. My history is more of the "programming wunderkid", been programming since I was 13 and (like many on this site) find reading HN and programming news relaxing and recreational. I say all of this to highlight the fact that I got impostor syndrome. It was particularly bad the first few years. Once you realize everyone feels this way it's liberating. In fact you can even use impostor syndrome for good; either by motivating your learning or by empathizing with others. I'm constantly learning and growing, which means I still feel like an impostor in these new areas. I'm the Kubernetes expert for multiple startup and government projects, but I still feel like a beginner in out of his depth. The way I see it, you have two options. You push your comfort zone, and get comfortable with being uncomfortable, or you stagnate. You either become a constant learner who always has a niggling impostor syndrome, or your knowledge becomes static. Be like Socrates. "I know that I know nothing." |