I’ll Never Be Good Enough

Let’s talk about imposter syndrome for a minute. Almost every developer I’ve ever met has it at different moments in their career. That includes people that have been at this for years. If you feel like a fraud, you’re in good company.

When you’re just starting, this feeling can cripple new developers. They feel like they’ll never be as good, quick, or smart as their peers. Be careful with these comparisons.

How do you know they’re doing good work?

More often than not, the developers you think are great are just figuring it out as they go. They still google simple things, forget the syntax, make obvious mistakes, and build software that they find embarrassing.

Within months, most new developers realize that the bar they had set so high in their heads was more of a fantasy than reality. We are all figuring it out. Don’t beat yourself up. Give yourself permission to learn, fail, and struggle with the new. The rest of us have.