M&Ms: Beating Back Imposter Syndrome

5 reasons why beating imposter syndrome will help you in the 98th edition.

Hey Team,

What bothers me most about written content on the internet is that most of it is regurgitated nonsense.

But I get why there are so few new ideas online; I've written online consistently for over two years, and I almost didn't start myself.

In March of 2021, what got me over the hump to take Write of Passage and start writing online was that I thought I would do my homework for that class but never actually publish any of it online.

At the time, in early 2021, I was running a bunch of engineering teams. As a Senior Directory in charge of the modern tech for Walmart Pharmacy, my role felt important. And it was certainly not something I wanted to be fired out of because I decided to share my ideas online.

And back then, the people above me, my Bosses, wrote only a few essays online their whole careers, if any. And all of their writing was canned, regurgitated corporate nonsense. They were great people, so no offense to them. But their writing was likely edited by PR people at the firm or written entirely by the PR team. And the people below me wrote safe tutorials and step-by-step guides that ChatGPT could now pen. Nobody wanted to rock the boat. And the people to the side of me didn't write anything at all. They were all afraid, just like I was back then, of getting discovered as huge frauds.

Imposter syndrome is a big reason why most of the stuff online is "safe" regurgitated nonsense. No one wants to look foolish. And if I felt I had a lot to lose by sharing personal stories, and hard-earned lessons, imagine what people more important than me felt.

But the truth is closer to what Steve Jobs famously said:

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

After starting this writing journey, I got exposed to people who had a lot to lose but had overcome this fear and published every article they wrote anyway.

They helped me realize that the best ideas shared online are authentic; they are real stories that actual humans went through. And real lessons learned in the trenches of doing something.

And I also saw how much these people grew from pushing through this uncomfortable formulation and sharing of ideas. They had become wise by being willing to look foolish. And they were certainly wiser than even my bosses 2 or 3 levels above me were. And at the time that many levels above me was the CTO of a Fortune 500 company.

It was incredible to see how writing online led even introverted folks make connections and friends online. After a guest class in the Small Bets community this week about connecting with influential people by Benjamin Carlson, I audited my cold outreach over the last two years. I realized I had yet to send a single cold Direct Message out. And yet even I, an introverted and awkward engineer, have made hundreds of friends, gained tens of thousands of followers, and jumped on hundreds of zoom calls over the last two years because my writing led people to me. In fact, this very essay is inspired by a Zoom call I had yesterday.

But the learning that stuck with me most was how writing online evolved into business and money-making opportunities for many of the people willing to beat back imposter syndrome. By overcoming their imposter syndrome, many of these people built their own distribution channels and digital leverage that allowed them to build businesses on top. And perhaps one of my biggest personal wins last year was that my writing led me to this online community, Small Bets, where we spend a lot of time discussing making money online. And it even led me to make my first dollars online; I am proud of the $100k I was able to pull off on my own last year. Most of all because the writing was the catalyst that helped me tackle the imposter. Without that, I would've made nothing.

So why should you take the risk and overcome your imposter syndrome?

First of all, so you can learn and grow. The wisdom you will gain from offloading bad ideas out of your head and strengthening good ideas will be invaluable to you.

Secondly, do it for the connections and friendships. If even I can do this part, as an awkward and introverted engineer, I believe you can too.

Third, do it because the world is changing fast, and you want your life to be more antifragile; you want to rely on yourself for your income streams.

Fourth, do it to keep a record of your accomplishments and good ideas. Ironically, starting to write online will help you beat imposter syndrome more than almost anything else you could do.

Fifth, doing this will help you foster a growth mindset. You will learn that by adding to the world of ideas, you are actually making the whole pie bigger for everyone else. You will attract like-minded people to your ideas and push them further than you would have ever done if your ideas had just remained in your head. Writing online is the biggest bat signal you could put out today.

But perhaps the biggest reason of all to do this is because you have an obligation to!

You have an obligation to share real stories because the majority of the world is busy sharing regurgitated nonsense. Trust me; you will help make the world a better place by beating back your imposter.

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Three Tweets: The benefits of ignorance, Inflation of Services, Asymmetry

Another thing Steve Jobs talked about in that famous 2005 Stanford commencement speech was the immense benefits of being a beginner.

This clip on Twitter by Orson Welles, the directory of classic Citizen Kane, re-highlights the importance of looking foolish.

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This Twitter thread is a fascinating take on inflation being especially related to services.

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A wonderful visual that perfectly captures the Small Bets approach to entrepreneurship I have adopted as my own.

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Two Memes: GPT-4, Crazy work history

I have been using GPT-4 to help me with some programming, and it is incredibly good in comparison to GPT-3. Of course, it still messes things up, but it’s helped me speed up some things that would take me days into hours or minutes.

But if this thing ever becomes sentient, I am sure it will become very sick of us.

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At some point, the wise person should realize they cannot trust their own judgment. And should rely more heavily on friends and family to help them vet their next employer.

It could save headaches and their sanity.

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As always, thank you for reading.

-Louie

P.S. you can reply to this email; it will get to me, and I will read it.