From Imposter to Confident Writer: My Journey Through Self-Doubt and Publishing My First Article

Have you ever felt like an impostor? Is everyone around you just waiting for you to make a mistake like you're playing a role you're not qualified for? Have you ever been in a situation where you doubted yourself so much that you ended up playing the whole scenario in your head like a game of chess? Well, I have and let me tell you, it's not a fun place to be. Welcome to the club. Imposter syndrome is real and can be a real buzzkill, especially if you're trying to present yourself in a new way.

Before I go into the main content, I'll share an experience that happened to me a few weeks back, I recently started writing blog posts and let me tell you, the struggle is real. I usually write for myself, but when I started thinking about sharing my writing with the world, I froze. What if people don't like it? What if they think I'm a hacker? What if they laugh at me behind my back? I'm not gonna lie, those thoughts can be pretty paralyzing. But I knew that if I wanted to grow as a writer, I had to face my fears and put myself out there. So I took a deep breath, wrote my first article, and hit the publish button. And you know what happened? Nothing. Or at least, nothing bad happened. People read my article, they liked it, and they even shared it with their friends. I was thrilled! But then, of course, the doubts started creeping back in.

Is that a stroke of luck? Can I write something good again? And even if I could, would anyone care? So I did what any self-respecting "Gen Z" would do: I googled "how to be more confident". And you know what I found? A bunch of advice that is both useful and ludicrous.

"Visualize yourself succeeding!" Okay, but what if my brain can't get past the image of me falling flat on my face?

"Fake it till you make it!" Alright, but how exactly do you fake confidence? Do I need to practice my power pose in front of the mirror?

"Believe in yourself!" Yes, thanks, I will get it. Crazy, right?

I started to feel like I was back in secondary school, reading self-help books that promised to make me a celebrity, confident if I just followed a few simple steps. Spoiler alert: they never worked!

But then I realized. Perhaps all these guides miss the point. Perhaps the key to self-confidence was acceptance rather than visualization, deceit, or belief.

What if I accepted the fact that, yes, I would have doubts and fears, but that doesn't mean I'm not a good writer? What if I accept the fact that, yes, not everyone likes my writing, but that doesn't mean I should stop doing it? What if I accept the fact that, yes, I can fail, but that doesn't mean I fail?

Accepting these truths isn't easy, but it's much more doable than trying to convince myself that I'm the greatest writer that ever lived. And you know what? It worked. I wrote another article, and it was even better than the first one. And then I wrote another one, and another, and before I knew it, I started to feel confident in my writing. Now, I'm not saying that I no longer doubt myself. Yes, of course. But instead of letting those doubts hold me back, I use them as motivation to keep going. Every time I publish an article, I prove to myself that I can do it, despite the doubts and all.

So if you feel like an imposter, whether in your writing, work or personal life, know that you're not alone. We all have moments of doubt. But instead of trying to banish those doubts forever, try to accept them as they are.

The moral of the story is: Doubt is a natural part of the creative process, but it shouldn't hold you back. Sometimes all it takes is a little self-reflection and a reminder of why you started in the first place. So go ahead, hit that "publish" button and let the tokens drop where they can. You may surprise yourself.