Gratitude, the antidote to imposter syndrome

A rewritten journal entry from early 2020

Below I rewrote a short journal entry from early 2020, in which I was reflecting on my imposter syndrome.

It’s interesting seeing my own words from three years ago staring back at me: I have definitely come a long way in curtailing my imposter syndrome, though I still can get “poisoned” by it from time to time.

Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!

Have you ever felt like you don't deserve the success you’re dreaming of? Or feel you aren’t allowed the joy of the things you have achieved already?

I sure have.

This thing called imposter syndrome can hit me hard sometimes. But I’m learning that comparing myself to others is not helpful at all. It only leads to envy and feeling down about myself.

So, now I try to promote and share other people's accomplishments and feel happy for them.

Being a fan of others actually inspires me and makes me believe that maybe I, too, can achieve what I want (while enjoying it).

I've come to realize that we all have our unique paths to follow.

That we all have our own game to play, so I focus on paving my own path and working on my creative endeavors without worrying about competing with others.

And even though the process of finding how far I can go can be exciting and scary at the same time, I embrace it. The curiosity about my own path helps me ignore other people's paths and believe I am the best person for my journey.

Still, being self-critical is something that I will probably always struggle with. It is both a superpower, showing me what is important to me, and a poison, paralyzing me.

But when I feel grateful for what I have already achieved, or feel grateful for the lovely friends and family that support me and that I can support in turn, I don’t feel like an imposter at all.

Gratitude is the antidote to the poisonous side of imposter syndrome for me.

So I practice gratitude. ❤️

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Stumbling upon this entry is a good reminder to me to be grateful for what I already have.

Regards,

Jibran