Imposter syndrome wears many masks. Mine is collecting courses.
What Is Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome is when you believe you're not good enough and fear being exposed as a fraud. Even when the facts say otherwise.
I first felt it when I walked into an interview for a senior position with just three years of experience. I was doing the same tasks as everyone else; no one questioned my work, but inside, I kept waiting to be found out.
For a long time, I thought it was a "first-world problem." Something people talk about at conferences, but that doesn't affect real life. Then I realized: most people go through this. And it doesn't just go away on its own.
Preparation Instead of Action
I constantly felt like something was missing. One more book. One more course. One more masterclass.
I bought marketing and sales courses in advance — not for a specific project, but "just in case." The logic was simple: learn first, do later. I set aside a routine — half an hour a day for a course. It felt very productive. Like I was making progress.
Then I noticed a pattern: courses repeat themselves: the same concepts, different words. A few foundational books are enough to grasp the essentials. The rest is just variations.
And most importantly, I learned far more about marketing by actually doing something than from all those courses combined.
The Moment Everything Clicked
I was taking a course on building AI applications — wrappers around ChatGPT with added context. And an idea popped into my head: an AI note-taking app for books.
My first thought? "I need a course."
Not "does anyone need this?" Not "how do I validate this?" But "which course should I buy?"
This time I decided to validate first. I had a few conversations — informal customer interviews that the other person didn't even realize were happening. The approach from the book "The Mom Test."
Result: no one needs another AI note-taking app.
The feeling was strange — a mix of disappointment and relief. If I had bought a course, I would have wasted time on something no one needed.
What I Realized
The connection between imposter syndrome and courses became obvious when I wanted to build a MicroSaaS. My first thought again — "I need a course." I had even bought such a course before. And it was genuinely useful.
But the very fact of this automatic reaction made me stop.
I realized: it's easier for me to buy a course because I enjoy learning. It's pleasant. It's safe. It creates an illusion of progress. But the actual work remains undone.
I started looking for tools to deal with this. "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield helped. It's not about imposter syndrome — it's about Resistance, the inner force that stops you from creating. But for me, it turned out to be the same thing. A mix of imposter syndrome and creator's paralysis. The book gave me tools to fight it.
The imposter hasn't gone anywhere. But now I know what to do with it.
What I Do Differently: The Method of Small Mistakes
Now I use the Lean approach — both at work and in personal projects.
The formula is simple: hypothesis → action → conclusion. Do — check — learn.
Courses haven't disappeared. I still buy them. But with different logic.
Before, a course was a way to prepare "just in case." Now it's a tool for structuring material when I already have a specific question. When I know what I don't know. When there's a gap to fill.
This helps me learn faster. Though it doesn't always feel that way in the moment.
Preparation is sometimes the most elegant way to do nothing.
