OG Tuesday Issue #181

✅ Today’s Checklist:

Learn why you’re not an imposter.
What to do after you rage quit your job.
TA subscriber, Jordan Hamric, shares the best career advice she’s received.

🤔 Riddle me this: Where can you finish a book without finishing a sentence? (Find the answer at the bottom).

Career: Can following your passion lead to a toxic situation?

Communication: Improve your interactions by understanding impact versus intent.

Employee Management: 12 things you can say to avoid reverse delegation.

Pay Equity: Equal Pay Day is today—March 12, 2024. Learn key stats about progress toward wage equality in the United States.

Time Management: 7 cognitive biases that make us suck at time management.

Overcoming Impostor Syndrome

Do any of these brutal internal dialogues feel far too familiar?

What do you think you’re doing? They’re going to wonder why they hired you if you turn in work like this! Actually, that’s a good point. Why did they hire you? You have no idea what you’re doing.

You shouldn’t have said that. You don’t belong here, and now everyone else in this meeting knows it. They’re all staring at you. Claire’s probably wishing she could fire you.

Did you really just agree to take that assignment…and complete it in a week? What makes you think you’ll be able to do it at all, let alone do it well?

These examples of negative self-talk are connected with the impostor phenomenon, popularly referred to as “imposter syndrome.”

It’s the fear that you’ve created an illusion of skill or competence you can’t live up to or have enjoyed “accidental” successes you won’t be able to repeat.

It’s all too common, and it impedes productivity as much as, if not more than, poor organization or time-management habits.

Here’s how to reclaim your focus and your sense of self worth:

Keep a log of compliments you receive.

If applicable, note how you internally or externally deflected in the moment.
Think of at least 3 reasons to believe the compliment.
If your internal critic protests, journal about that. Start by asking, “Why exactly do you say that?”

Identify something in your future that you’re tempted to overthink or over prepare for.

How long do you think you need to spend thinking about it or preparing for it?
Do your best to spend only half of that time on it.
Journal about how that felt.
Later on, journal about if and how you think halving your prep time impacted the results or outcomes.

Complete an empty chair exercise. (It’s one technique used in Gestalt Therapy.)

Sit facing an empty chair.
A cornerstone of imposter syndrome is the belief you’ve fooled someone or many someones into believing you’re something you’re not. Imagine one of those people sitting in the empty chair.
Tell the imaginary person exactly how you tricked them. Share how you feel about it.
Move to the imaginary person’s empty chair and mentally put yourself in their shoes.
Respond to yourself from their point of view.
Continue the dialogue for as long as needed to generate insight.

Work on mentally relabeling what you perceive as fundamental flaws. For example:

Imposter thought: I have no idea what I’m doing.
- Reframe it! I’m in the process of learning and growing.
Imposter thought: What makes you think you belong here?
- Reframe it! I do not need to be perfect to belong here.

Read Why Everyone Feels Like They’re Faking It (The New Yorker) to learn about the psychologists who identified imposter phenomenon as well as some of the concept’s most prominent critics.

Survey: Gift-giving in Your Workplace

We need the help from our TA community! We want to learn all about gift-giving in your workplace.

Take this 3 minute survey and we’ll send you a $25 Amazon gift card to say thanks.

What is GroupTogether?

It’s the easiest way to collect money for a gift and create a gorgeous group card all-in-one 😍.

Just share a link and everyone can chip in and sign the card online. Then choose from 150+ eGift Cards, or give the AnyCard and let the recipient choose.

It’s SO easy. And it’s free. No company or school sign-up needed.

👉 Take the 3 min survey here.

I rage-quit once because of a text

In my twenties, I once rage-quit my job because of a text I got from my boss.

I had been working for 2.5 years building a music venue from the ground up, and was clearly burnt out.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but there were clear signs:

Live music quit inspiring me
Email alerts triggered anxiety
I felt stuck and couldn’t see a clear path for growth
I constantly felt undervalued
Work days were dreadful

One day, I sent a quick text to my boss because I couldn’t find information on a show she had booked.

Her response was, “I don’t know, isn’t that YOUR job?” (Plus other disrespectful comments that I have since blocked out from memory.)

This was the first text I’d sent since she left for Greece for three weeks while I was left to manage everything.

Her response felt like a digital slap in my face.

I tried to cool off before messaging her back, but that was the last straw.

I angrily quit via text.

A few days later, she asked if I would meet her in person.

We both apologized for how we handled the situation, and created a transition plan together.

I could have stayed angry and ghosted her, but I’m glad I didn’t because:

I took pride in my work; that’s not how I wanted to leave.
I didn’t want to burn any bridges. To this day, my best career opps have come from my network.
My emotions got the best of me — there’s always a graceful way to leave a job.
I cared about my coworkers. If I had suddenly left, they would be the ones to pick up the pieces.
I didn’t have a new job lined up, so it gave me more time to figure out my next career move.

My former boss ended up giving me glowing recommendations for future roles, and we are still good friends today.

Joanna Ericta (Co-Founder of The Assist)