It’s something we all feel, at one time or another. Seattle UX designer Dylan Wilbanks only confirmed that with his recent post on Medium, “You are better than you think.” Both of them found solace in looking back at their careers and everything they’ve accomplished. But that technique doesn’t always work. You can always accomplish more; you can always find someone with a better resumé or better coding skills. If accomplishment is the key, you have to keep chasing after the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing. Maybe the answer to imposter syndrome isn’t what you’ve done, but who you are. I think Baker was onto something when she told me that, whenever she feels like something is impossible, she has to try it. She has courage and bravery; she is putting herself out there, willing to fail. But if she does fail, that doesn’t show she’s an imposter – it shows that she’s a fighter. This is part of what researcher Brené Brown calls “daring greatly,” an expression she got from Theodore Roosevelt: In Brown’s words, if you’re an entrepreneur, you are already in the arena – and you can’t be an imposter.
