Overcome Imposter Syndrome With a Bragging File
Someday I will quit my job at Lifehacker (fired because I was too good) and when I apply for a new performance, I will need to build a portfolio and update my resume. It shouldn’t take long because I have collected my best works as they come out. And regardless of whether your work is public, you should do the same. You will have a stronger portfolio with less painstaking work.
Save on the go
When I am especially proud of one of my practical how-tos , or my brave piece opinions or my fascinating conversations , I bookmark it in a folder called “My Best” and copy it to Evernote. Once a month or two, I also save well-established works to showcase those metrics, not just my personal favorites.
Whatever you post, drop a copy into a folder, bookmark, or note-taking system. Do this the first time you are proud of the draft, or right after the project is completed. And it’s better to save too much than not enough. It’s still better than looking at every file you’ve ever created.
If your result is more of a process than a finished product, get in the habit of documenting it. Take photos and videos, record audio, forward emails to a separate account. This is a good reason to post your work on social media, even if you need to open a separate account because you don’t want to show off your main one.
Save a local copy
If your work is online, get in the habit of copying it to Evernote, or use a service like Authory, which identifies and backs up your online work. While Lifehacker will probably outlive me, I wrote for a dozen sites that no longer exist, and I lost some of that work forever because I didn’t back it up.
If your work is done on computers or company accounts, purchase personal copies that you can take with you. Back up your working Gmail. Anything that cannot be sued or fired for possession.
You can save several different formats, but your best bet is to choose one: Evernote, Google Drive, file folder, and so on.
Also maintain a public boast file
It sucks that you always have to sell yourself and think about your next source of income, but you do. Most of us cannot keep one job from graduation to retirement. So have a publicly available showcase file, both portfolio and ad page.
Be more selective than your personal file. Find the weakest element in your portfolio, remove it, and repeat until you’re satisfied. Make sure the very first item in your portfolio is better than the average item. (If your portfolio is chronological, add a “featured” slot at the top.)
Ask a friend or colleague to pick the strongest and the weakest. You will be surprised.
Save praise
You need to save not only your real work, but all the approval and praise you receive for your work. Save congratulatory emails, testimonials, awards, and whatever good someone says about your work in your annotation folder.
You can quote praise when promoting your work publicly or when applying for a new job, but you can also use it when negotiating a promotion or performance appraisal. You don’t have to explicitly point out the praise every time. Before checking for performance, for example, you should brush up on your memory by checking your boast file and see what projects others think you’ve done well. When you ask your boss for a raise, he doesn’t want to hear about your personal favorite accomplishments, but the accomplishments they praised at the time. You remind them of work, not praise.
It is especially important to retain praise and approval from respected sources that future employers, clients, or audiences can trust. These are praises that even a stranger can appreciate, not reviews from anyone. There are notes all over the books. Doctors leave good reviews on the Internet. Teachers share hearty cards from their students. Whatever your type of work, you should post some kind of praise publicly. Save it as you receive it.
Review your own bragging file
Sometimes the person who needs to sell is you. You need to remind yourself of what you have achieved. Or you need to double-check if you are doing a job that you are proud of.
This winter, I felt like I was stumped like I was only telling boring stories, so I looked at my bragging file for direction. I saw an old post on tabletop role-playing games and remembered how much fun it was to explore. But this time, I really wanted to play the game for a new post. So I published an article on how to role-play without any planning . In the two years that I have been writing here, this could have been my favorite piece. And now it’s in the bragging file.