Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
Image generated by Microsoft Copilot AI, with the prompt: "woman designer who is overcoming imposter syndrome, abstract"
Imposter syndrome is talked about a lot in creative spaces and it’s common to find a lot of people resonating with it. It’s easy to be critical of ourselves, especially when we know that criticism is important for improvement. That being said, there’s a point where we become too hard on ourselves and we struggle to see the value in even some of our best work. Today, we’ll dive into how to tackle imposter syndrome and how to catch ourselves when we become overly critical.
What is Imposter Syndrome?
The McLean hospital gives a great definition for imposter syndrome:
“When someone has impostor syndrome, they experience repeated feelings or thoughts that they are incompetent or not good enough, despite evidence to the contrary.”
Early studies of imposter syndrome focused heavily on women who would be considered professionals in their fields. There was a growing trend of these women stating that they had fooled everyone into believing that they were intelligent, despite these women having PhDs and excelling in their studies and professions.
Imposter syndrome, however, is not just unique to women. It can be present in everyone, and it’s a really difficult problem to overcome. It is not uncommon for people with imposter syndrome to feel that they are the only ones having these thoughts, and let’s be honest, if we believe we’re not supposed to have the success that we do, would we really want to talk about it? It’s hard to have open and honest conversations when we feel we are not fit to call ourselves artists or designers, but breaking down these walls is immensely important.
Encouraging conversations about why we feel inferior is one of the first steps to stopping those feelings entirely. You’d be surprised to hear how many people around you might be having the same thoughts! Once we let go of our feelings of imposter syndrome and allow ourselves to explore our professions without fears of looking inadequate, we can create some really unique and amazing work.
How Can We Get Over it?
It would be great if we could always catch ourselves in the act and say “wow, I’m experiencing imposter syndrome” and then just get over it, but we all know that it’s not that easy. The folks over at Hubspot have some great tips on how to overcome imposter syndrome, and we’ll look at some of them here, too.
Abandoning your perfectionism is one of the most common tips when we look at how to overcome imposter syndrome. Of course, this isn’t an easy task, but it’s a super important one. One of the leading causes of imposter syndrome is because we feel our work isn’t perfect, and if it’s not perfect, how can it be good at all? But this type of thinking causes us to strive for the impossible. Not everything we create can be our perfect magnus opus, and that’s okay! There is great work even when we feel it has flaws, and what feels flawed to us may beperfect to somebody else. Design is subjective in nature and there’s a good chance that when we strive for perfection, we are striving for something that doesn’t really exist. Nothing in the design world can be perfect, and we need to keep that in mind when we create. If we like our work and our clients like our work, then it’s great work, and we need to remember to treat it as such.
Embracing our imposter syndrome and our failures can be a super important step to overcoming it. This goes hand in hand with letting go of that perfectionism, but always keep in mind that mistakes happen. We can’t just brush them under the rug and pretend they don’t exist; that’s not helpful or healthy to us as designers. Discussing the mistakes in our process and how we learned from them is a super important part of discussing design. When you look for it, you’ll see that everyone makes mistakes when they’re working on a project. And who knows, sometimes showcasing your mistakes can help others realize they’re not alone either!
Finally, remember to accept compliments. Your work is good work! Whether it’s for a client or personal project, the work and knowledge you have and put into your designs comes through. It’s easy to brush off the compliments of somebody because you know they don’t have a strong design background like you do, but design is not created solely for other designers. Designs are created for everyone, and the general population isn’t going to look at your creations and pick them apart; they’re going to look at it and say “wow, somebody made this, and that’s pretty cool.”
Let’s Work Together
Overcoming imposter syndrome and feelings of inferiority isn’t easy, but it’s easier when we get help from others. Imposter syndrome can have detrimental impacts on our mental health, so it’s immensely important to help ourselves and others avoid feeling like we don’t belong in the spaces we genuinely do belong in. Remember to keep an eye on your creative friends and give compliments as often as you receive them. Sometimes hearing somebody enjoy your work can remind you of the skills you have!
Ultimately, give yourself credit. We’re all designers here, and we all know how much work goes into creation. The fact that we sit down and put pen to paper and genuinely make something is even more admirable than we tend to give ourselves credit for. It’s easy to get caught up in what’s going wrong and what we don’t like, but ultimately our work is professional and strong; we deserve credit for it, and we need to make sure we appreciate all the work that we put into our artform.
Hey! I’m Maggie Theall
I’m a graphic designer with a passion for creating work that not only looks great, but functions as intended.
Through my design journey, I’ve made plenty of mistakes and learned lessons from every one of them. This blog exists to document my experiences and research, so let’s learn together!
Have similar experiences or want to discuss further? Reach out, I’m always excited to connect with other designers!
