Overcoming Self-Doubt: Ten Tips to Combat Imposter Syndrome

This article is part of a special series, Get into Games, which offers students a glimpse into life in the games industry and provides guidance on how to break into the business. You can also find a selection of the best Academy guides for job-seekers here. Eilidh MacLeod, a senior game designer at Media Molecule, never felt good enough despite being a straight-A student and graduating with a first from Abertay University. Like many, she struggled with imposter syndrome, a set of feelings that lead you to ignore your successes and doubt your abilities. MacLeod explained that imposter syndrome reinforces feelings of inadequacy, making you believe you're not skilled enough to succeed. Over the years, she has worked to overcome her imposter syndrome and has shared her advice on how she did so as a game designer. Understanding the individual elements of a game and breaking them down rather than just having an opinion on a game has proven very important in helping MacLeod develop her voice and communication skills. Learning to break apart games into their component parts and speak about them objectively was key to improving her communication skills in design. Tied into communication is the ability to present your ideas to your colleagues and peers. Previously, for MacLeod, the idea of giving a presentation used to terrify her and keep her up at night, as her imposter syndrome was feeding her anxiety that she would be exposed as a fraud. But she decided to face her fear to overcome it. MacLeod found it was key to go about this in a logical fashion; outlining the problem that needed to be solved, how her design would fix the issue, and what work needed to be done. She'd then share these presentations with her colleagues and eventually started to act more like herself in doing so. Developing a closer relationship with your colleagues is also essential in feeling more confident communicating with them. This will also help improve your work, as it will allow you to collaborate more easily with other people working on a project. For a design to be as robust as possible, it needs to have been considered from all angles. MacLeod knew she had to get better at communicating with individuals one-on-one to feel like her design was as good as it could be. Investing time in these relationships can result in individuals trusting your decision-making, which can also do wonders for your confidence in communicating. One part of imposter syndrome that can be pretty debilitating is doubting your abilities or worrying that you'll never be able to produce good enough work. To combat this, it's good to become more comfortable showing work that isn't finished or perfect. Showing your imperfections can be beneficial in fostering good relationships. Being yourself also extends to being honest with others about what you can and can't do. As MacLeod says, you need to become comfortable sharing unfinished, imperfect, and early-stage work so that you can gather feedback and quickly iterate. Imposter syndrome can be quite an isolating thing to deal with, so having people around you who can help boost your confidence and push back against negative thoughts is essential. Having a strong support system of trusted people around you, both inside and outside of work, is key. Find the people who help hype you up when you're low and remind you of everything you have achieved. Seeking feedback about your design or the kind of designer you are from those you either really respect or trust can help push you forward, too. In addition to having a support network of people who can help you fight the thoughts brought about by imposter syndrome, you can also collect evidence to prove the negative voices wrong. One way of doing this is what MacLeod calls a 'brag bag', a list you keep with positive things that people have said about your work over the years. MacLeod says that it can be useful for people suffering from imposter syndrome to reframe their thinking about their achievements. Rather than simply listing the things you have done, think about the problems you solved and how. The next piece of advice MacLeod has for handling imposter syndrome comes straight from troubled Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf: just do it. Apply for roles, do the tests, consistently refine your CV and interview, interview, interview. For many people suffering from imposter syndrome, facing the music and trying to complete the task at hand can often feel like too much. As a result, they tend to put off work, so finding a way to force yourself to do what you need to do can be essential. To get around procrastination, you can use the Pomodoro Technique. This has you working for 25 minutes, before you have a five-minute break. Finally, MacLeod says that asking questions is not a sign of weakness but actually can improve your self-esteem and help conquer your imposter syndrome. In preparing her talk, MacLeod asked her colleagues at Media Molecule for additional tips for overcoming imposter syndrome. These include being as vulnerable and honest as you can bear, comparing what you know now to what you knew when you were a graduate, keeping a log of nice things people have said about your work, having a hype friend, and trying to remember that most people have their fears and insecurities.