How to Turn Your Imposter Syndrome Into A Motivating Force for Good

As I sit here about to enter the fourth week of mandatory stay-at-home lockdown in Shanghai, I have had a lot of time to think about where I am in my career as a photographer and inevitably, scroll through social media to compare where my perceived competitors are as well.  This, as most of us know, is a recipe for imposter syndrome disaster. 

We’ve all succumbed to it at one point or another.  The self-doubt.  The fear of failure.  The self-imposed anxiety caused by wanting to be perfect.  Feelings of fraudulence are ripe in any creative industry, with the onslaught of social media we face only exacerbating this phenomenon. 

Imposter syndrome can become a challenging cycle of negativity to snap out of.  The goal should be to find a way to turn it into a motivating force.  A force that pushes us to be self-critical in a positive way that can lead to actionable change and eventually growth.

Do you suffer from the occasional bout of imposter syndrome?  What do you do to cope?