The Challenge of Pride

This past week, I hosted a free webinar on Imposter Syndrome.

According to some surveys, ~70% of all adults will experience imposter feelings at some point in their careers.

I am not going to go deep into Imposter Syndrome here (see below for the recording), but instead I thought I’d focus on one aspect of it.

Pride.

One tell tale sign of imposter feelings is the inability to internalize your own accomplishments.

Instead, many of us will chalk accomplishments up to outside variables that we simply say we were fortunate to benefit from.

I got lucky…

Without their help, I wouldn’t have…

I only got the opportunity because…

If these sound like thoughts you have, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are experiencing imposter syndrome - but it is something that we can work on.

Feeling pride in yourself and your achievements is important - because you deserve to.

You may have grown up with the view that “pride” is a negative thing - a sign of arrogance.

But that is only if you become too proud - and are obnoxious about it.

The truth is that pride is the emotional reward we get for accomplishing things we set out to do.

It is both natural and necessary, even for tiny achievements.

Celebrate your wins.

Pat yourself on the back.

Tell your friends and family about it.

Savor the moments of progress.

And then get back to it.

What is something you accomplished last week that you are proud of?

Who among your friends or family deserves to be proud too? Let them know.

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