Been thinking about "impostor syndrome" and its misuse.

Imposter Syndrome is feeling like a fraud despite overwhelming evidence you are not. It is _not_ feeling incapable of doing what you think you should already be able to do.

I call that feeling "temporary inadequacy"
The distinction matters. Someone who suffers impostor syndrome has already demonstrated unquestionable success. The feeling stems from a disconnect regarding the reality of their past. It is, in essence, a contradiction of the evidence.
People who misuse the phrase "impostor syndrome" often use it when they feel like a "fraud" because the evidence of their success is lacking. You're not a fraud, you're a novice at that _thing_, and feeling inadequate is completely normal for the novice.
Regarding almost anything that can be done in the universe, we are all inadequate until we try and prove our adequacy. That's how growth and achievement works.

Feeling inadequate with a lack of evidence is expected, but it's mostly temporary.
I _constantly_ feel "temporary inadequacy," because I _am_ temporarily inadequate for the task at hand. I do not feel like an impostor because I don't yet know how to do something. I feel fear of the unknown, but I _know_ this can be overcome and I will.
For example, yesterday I made a PR in a codebase I've never seen in a language I've hardly used. I was inadequate to the task when I set out to do it. But it was only temporary. I eventually gained the adequacy I needed, and believed I would because I have in the past.
Every project I've ever been given, if I have not done that exact thing a few times before, will send me into a "temporary inadequacy" panic internally. But then I remember the evidence that I've overcome inadequacy before and can do it again.

You can learn this process, too!
Many of you who feel like impostors are not, you're temporarily inadequate. That's _FINE_! There's nothing wrong with needing to grow. Just don't believe the lie that you should already be grown. There is no need to feel that way. You would do well to rid yourself of that shame.
Examine yourself. Are you a fraud, or a work in progress?

Embrace temporary inadequacy, leave a wake of evidence behind you of instances where you overcame it.

Remember, the only way to be permanently inadequate is to quit.
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