Today I would like to talk to you about how to overcome imposter syndrome. Dr. James Watson, co- discoverer of the double helix configuration of DNA, has said a number of things—many of them controversial. But one of the quotes that I find fascinating pertains to the topic of innovation.
I’ll paraphrase here: “If you set out to do something new and big, by definition you are unqualified to succeed in it.”
That’s true. If it is something that you have never done before, you aren’t an expert and you have no credentials that might predict your potential to be successful. Thing is…if what you are trying to do is truly innovative, no one else out there is qualified either. Sometimes the best “qualified” person out there is the one who has an idea or a guess about how things might work. A picture in your mind could be the best plan for success out there. That makes you the closest thing to an expert in the world.
Many of us, particularly when we are just starting, suffer from imposter syndrome. Uncertainty grips us. We doubt ourselves. This is all the more salient when what we strive for is new and big. If you find yourself in this situation, remember that you are the world’s foremost authority on your vision. You are more qualified than anyone else to make your idea happen.
So go for it!
