 What is up everyone, Jossi here and in today's video, I'm going to be a little bit vulnerable talking about my experiences as a software developer and obviously by looking at the title, talking about my experiences with imposter syndrome. I'd really appreciate it if you can give this video a thumbs up. It helps out with the algorithm. Also, if you haven't already and want to watch more content like this, subscribe to the channel. I like authentic videos like this where I don't just talk about like, oh, what you need to become a software developer and all that stuff and other tech things. It's cool to just talk about me personally and how my story could maybe help you or even inspire you along with letting you all know that I'm just a regular person too that deals with similar things and I'm not like this genius. Side note, I'm really loving this hoodie. I'm loving this pickup. I'm not going to lie. Actually, I got this hoodie in San Diego. I had a great time. My wife and I went to San Diego for her birthday just to get away from the snow. We also linked up with the homie, my Yuko, who actually made a similar video about imposter syndrome, which is really cool. I appreciate that people in tech are taking time to make videos like this. So imposter syndrome is loosely defined as doubting one's ability and feeling fraudulent. It's actually kind of funny here in the word fraudulent or feeling like a fraud just because of like the things you see on TikTok and calling people a fraud. I know it's not funny, but apparently imposter syndrome disproportionately affects people who are high achieving where it's hard for them to accept praise or accolades that they receive due to their achievements. And it's interesting as I talk about the large percentage of people who deal with imposter syndrome at major tech companies. To give you a little background about myself, I got a 21 ACT in high school and I tested into the almost lowest level math that you can at my university. So even though I overcome those obstacles, thankfully, never being a great like test taker or just struggling to understand computer science principles and concepts and algorithms and data structures has, I guess you can say, made me less confident in my ability, especially when comparing myself to my peers. Obviously being a minority in tech that also makes me feel like an outsider looking in sometimes or do I really belong here, especially since I don't see a lot of people of color in tech. And we substantially are disproportionate in this industry, which is another reason why I think it's so important for me to do a video like this to motivate and inspire others to pursue this, even when you have imposter syndrome. Also, not always necessarily fitting in with people within the software engineering community. Like when it comes to not only my personality, obviously, I'm an extrovert and I enjoy talking with people and I have interests outside of coding, along with sometimes struggling with technical communication. And I think that's kind of a symptom of my background and being a minority who grew up in an urban environment for a significant portion of my life. And one thing that I think a lot of us can relate to and agree with is that when it comes to software development, engineering and tech, it's such a statistical, technical, analytical and skill driven industry. It's easy to compare. It's easy to feel left behind when comparing yourself to your peers. And honestly, being a YouTuber, talking about software development and, you know, computer science sharing my experiences, sometimes I get imposter syndrome with sharing, you know, my thoughts and what I think it takes to get into tech, especially since I didn't have the greatest GPA. I got like a 2.86 in computer science. And I remember struggling and having to withdraw from my first course and all these like negative experiences that have kind of stuck with me and made me feel like I don't have the ability or I shouldn't be sharing my experiences or having success. So in 2018, this is really interesting. There's a report from Blind that states that 58% of tech employees report experiencing imposter syndrome. So apparently imposter syndrome is very prevalent in tech employees for some of the world's tech giants, including Apple, Facebook and Uber. And when you think about it, the ridiculously high bar you have to clear in order to land a job at a tech company, it's really staggering to think that they deal with imposter syndrome. What causes imposter syndrome? Basically, rather than feeling excited and congratulating yourself for a new accomplishment, negative thoughts tend to manifest that question, your experiences, and if you deserve whatever that new accomplishment is, I often feel like everything had to have been perfect in order for me to feel valid about my accomplishment even after achieving it. It appears that imposter syndrome affects even the most accomplished because of increased self-imposed expectations, which can be triggered by a recent promotion or tenure. It's like this weird behavior that we have as humans where we work really hard to achieve something and then when we achieve that something we don't feel worthy. New challenges and responsibilities often make us question our experience, credibility and ability. This behavior of overwork and anxiety and exhaustion lead to burnout, which probably plays a huge role in why well over 60% of tech companies, tech employees feel burnt out at high-achieving companies. I don't mean for this video to be so negative, but it's a good time to reflect on the consequences of imposter syndrome. Here are some things that you can do and that I've done and researched about that can help you overcome imposter syndrome. Remember, I'm not a psychiatrist, these are just things that I'm sharing based on my own experiences and research. Remember why you got to where you are in your career and be positive, of course. Make sure you separate feelings from facts. Befriend someone who's older than you or even more accomplished than you that's in a position that you aspire to because often you can get a lot of wisdom from experience. Remember what you've overcome in life? I always like to think that, hey, God brought me this far and not to leave me. And last but not least, it's okay to not know everything, like no one's ever going to know everything. That's the beauty of the process. It's the beauty of the journey. And really, that's the amazing part about growing as a person and in your career. I hope this video was helpful. Please share it with someone who may be dealing with imposter syndrome or not feeling confident about their skill sets or experiences and subscribe to the channel. If you haven't already, I love for you all to become a part of this amazing community and as always, have a blessed rest of your week and I'll see you soon. Peace.