Imposter syndrome combined with isolation is a concern in our increasingly growing industry, particularly for those working remotely. How do we address imposter syndrome without looking our internal programming or self talk? Though talking with developers over the years, I believe many of us came to tech because of our backgrounds. Namely, computers are something we can control. More than half of the people I know in technology have dysfunctional backgrounds. Teaching emotional coping skills with something developers understand (logical code) can produce powerful breakthroughs. Though I am not a licensed therapist, I do care about our developers, our community, and specifically, my friends. In this talk, I'll relate how I've dealt with mental health through my journey and the insight into how destructive our self-talk is. It affects the jobs we go after, the work we do, and how we relate with each other. Instead of keeping old self-talk and growing around it, we need to make “breaking changes” in the way we talk about ourselves.

1. Good for WordPress,
Bad for Mental Health
BACKWARD
COMPATIBILITY:
BridgetWillard.com • (949) 370-4059 • gidgey@gmail.com

2. 50% of my
friends
struggle.
We come to computer science and
tech because it’s predictable.
Why do we
crave control?
For the last ten years of anecdotal
conversations, I’ve come up
with a theory.

3. “What are
worthiness issues?”

4. What does it
mean to be
worthy?
How do we change how we
were programmed earlier in
our lives?

5. I amFat • Ugly • Stupid • Unreliable • Unlovable • Unworthy

6. Why does
self-talk
matter?

7. Self Talk
Determines
How We
Interact
● Do we make friends easily or figure
they’ll hate us anyway?
● Do we make self-deprecating jokes?
● Do we try for better jobs? Better
clients?
● Do we self-isolate?
● Are we brave in our relationships?
● Are we vulnerable to someone?

8. How do we make
breaking changes?

9. We have to find
the bugs.
They are not
features.
● Find someone you can
trust to talk it out.
● Recognize the patterns
in word choice.
● Practice
self-awareness.
● Journal.

10. Self-Talk
Exercise
Challenge

11. BridgetWillard.com • (949) 370-4059 • gidgey@gmail.com
Write: “I am”
What are you good at?
What do people say about you?
Who do you want to be?
Write it down.

12. Thank you.
BridgetWillard.com • (949) 370-4059 • gidgey@gmail.com