This past week was the MVP Summit out in Redmond, WA. Now, I’m not an MVP but I do follow a ton of them on social media and had the privilege to interview a handful of them.
My Twitter timeline was filled with MVPs sharing pictures and what else they could without violating their NDA. The hashtags #MVPBuzz and #MVPSummit were all over Twitter.
However, one tweet in particular stood out to me:
Attending conferences like #MVPSummit is a constant internal battle between feeling like an impostor who doesn’t know enough and doesn’t belong here, and feeling extremely grateful for the opportunity to learn from so many smart people :)
— Cathrine Wilhelmsen @ #MVPSummit (@cathrinew) March 20, 2019
Cathrine’s tweet reminded me of a research study I read on Impostor Syndrome. The research study stated that, “at least 70% of people will have an episode of ‘Impostor Syndrome’ in their lifetime.”
Wow!
What is Impostor Syndrome you ask?
“The persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.”
The thought of not being smarter than the next person, or not knowing as much, will always be a struggle for some people (myself included).
Reading tweets like the one above goes to show that at any level, whether you’re a junior, mid-level, or so-called expert, there is *always* room to learn more and grow. The struggle exists on all levels.
Later that day, Argenis sent out a tweet in which I had to reply with a quote from Simon Sinek.
“No one knows everything. But together, we know a whole lot.”
A quote that I use in my presentation, that I think fits right in this convo… #MVPBuzz #MVPSummit pic.twitter.com/8qT4JkDyq7
— Mohammad Darab (@mwdarab) March 21, 2019
No one on this earth knows everything and everyone starts out from zero. One method I use that’s helped me is to compare myself to myself. Sure, I’d like to know as much as certain people in the community but, really I need to compare myself to person in the mirror. Do I know more now than I did last year/month/week? If the answer is continuously “yes” then I’m on a good path to growth.
Hi Mohammad, thanks for your interesting post. it reminded me 2 things:
a post from nikoport…
http://www.nikoport.com/2018/01/18/jack-of-all-trades/
and this sentence: ““If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. ”
so you are wise to look at yourself in the mirror!
Thank you Antonio! Thank you for Niko’s link. He has very great advice!