avatarJillian Somera

Summary

Jillian Somera reflects on her journey with imposter syndrome, her accomplishments, and her strategies for overcoming self-doubt, emphasizing the importance of recognizing one's own strengths and the value of community support.

Abstract

In the midst of a pandemic that has reshaped perspectives on personal goals, Jillian Somera contemplates the nature of resolutions and her preference for reflection over rigid annual commitments. Despite professional success, including becoming a Top Writer for the Women in Tech tag on Medium, she grapples with imposter syndrome. To combat these feelings, Somera outlines three key strengths she possesses: storytelling, community building, and leading by example. She believes in the power of writing down achievements to internalize self-worth and encourages others to support her work by joining Medium or reading her other stories. Her narrative is one of resilience, self-discovery, and the pursuit of personal growth, inspired by the guidance of her Imposter Syndrome Coach, 'Tine Zekis.

Opinions

  • Resolutions feel outdated in the context of the pandemic, with reflections providing more meaningful insights.
  • Professional achievements, such as becoming a Top Writer, do not automatically dispel feelings of self-doubt and undeservingness.
  • Writing down accomplishments is a powerful tool for rejecting imposter syndrome and reinforcing self-belief.
  • Storytelling is seen as a fundamental human trait, central to Somera's identity and work.
  • Community building is highly valued, as evidenced by her engagement on social media and the support she receives from her coach and readers.
  • Leading by example is a principle Somera strives to live by, aiming to be someone she herself would admire.
  • There is an emphasis on the importance of supporting writers directly, through platforms like Medium, to acknowledge and reward their contributions.

Rejecting My Imposter Syndrome

New year, new habits

Me 10 years ago, photography by Honor Beeler

Lately, I’ve been pondering what resolutions look like for me in 2022, and I wrote about how I much prefer reflections to resolutions, along with the bold assertion that I don’t think that I’ll ever make a resolution again.

Being in a constant state of trauma living through a pandemic makes my past resolutions seem like relics from an ancient time: the lessons apply (yes, of course, those are always timeless), but the times are different now, along with their meaning.

Even as my career has accelerated in its ascent (e.g. when I became a Top Writer for the Women in Tech tag after only 3 weeks on the platform), despite facing hardships both professionally and personally, I still remain doubtful, as if being deserving of the fruits of my hard-earned labor is not enough for me to stop fighting with myself.

But there’s something to writing down your accomplishments, to see them reflected back at you in a tangible way, to translate the words that I struggle to etch in my mind on the screen before you.

So now, to reject my imposter syndrome, I will write down my strengths because I’ve heard in good faith that seeing is believing.

Here are 3 things that I would consider myself to be really good at:

1. Storytelling

I firmly believe that storytelling is the heart of humanity; we live and die by oration.

2. Community building

Connection with others is the most important thing in this life. This says it all:

3. Leading by example

Every day, I try to be a person that I would admire. After all, we can only do the best we can with what we’ve got.

As I look forward to this new year, with eyes no longer staring at the ground, I hold my head high and imagine the person I want to be, charging towards her, full-speed ahead.

Special thanks to da real MVP Imposter Syndrome Coach ‘Tine Zekis for inspiring me to write this.

If you liked reading this, you can support my work by becoming a Medium member through my referral link:

You can also find some of my other stories here:

And don’t forget to hold down that applause button and max it out to 50 claps!

New Writers Welcome
Imposter Syndrome
Women In Tech
New Years Resolutions
Writing
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