One particular flavor of imposter syndrome is surprisingly common, even among the most senior developers.
Imposter syndrome is the nagging loop in your head that tells you you’re not good enough to be coding for a living. Or, that you don’t deserve that promotion.
There’s one specific version of imposter syndrome that I see all time.
I call it “Not the best”-itis. Comparing yourself to your peers in an endless loop.
Here’s what I mean…
“Not the best”-itis takes this form:
“I’m not the best programmer”
“I’m not the best writer of documentation”
“I’m not the best at design/architecture”
“I’m not the best public speaker”
“I’m not the best at debugging”
“I’m not the best at going deep on a really complex problem”
“I’m not the best at coordinating many different initiatives”
“I’m not the best mentor for more junior developers”
Maybe you don’t feel insecure about all of these things, but chances are you feel some insecurity about one or some of them.
