Imposter

Finding your identity in work

We live our lives in units. For me, it‘s twenty-year radar blips. As I enter my third spin, I’m stabilizing; like maybe I’m not a kid anymore. Before that, it wasn’t so. Professionalism was a facade atop a punk-rock teenage substructure.

Think about the units of your life. What is the foundation on which your identity is being built? Were your first chapters spent establishing the traits of your chosen career? Probably not.

As we transition into our work lives we’re forced to assimilate our existing identities into that of a persona. We enter into a contract between ourselves and a new identity blueprint and it’s a disassociating experience.

This is imposter syndrome.

In these moments we are actors portraying the character we were hired to be. Some of us never stop acting. Acting can bring success, but it might not ever feel comfortable. Or you can, indeed, fake it until you make it.

Another word for “faking it until you make it” is learning. We act and get applause using such signals to help feel our way through a darkened maze until our new, realized selves emerge on the other side.

Where are you on this journey? Have you grasped the essence of the character? Are you using improv to find your way through the labyrinth? Or have you emerged on the other side with the skills that can take you into your next role — the next unit of your life?

If the character is unknown, define it. If you’re lost in the maze, find a co-star and seek applause together. If you think you’ve exited the maze, find another to enter.

Famous acting teacher Sanford Meisner once said, “Acting is behaving truthfully in imaginary circumstances.” I believe a variation of this can be applied to our work lives: “Working is acting in truthful circumstances.”

That is until you don’t have to act anymore.