Do you think you are special?

For whatever reason. I have a superiority complex because I’ve done okay relative to my humble roots. But while I am nice in person, mentally I often feel superior and smarter. And I don’t like that I think that way. Trying to do away with it, but idk how to succeed :/

I don't know if this post would make sense, but does anyone ever wish they were less? Less competent, less "bright", less "smart"? I'm not being braggy but I am pretty smart (not book smart but smart smart) and while objectively I am doing pretty good, I just constantly feel like I'm not living up to my fullest potential! Should I be on the lookout for a better job (the present one is fine) or preparing to study more or, I don't know, to scale and scale? It feels like everyone has such high expectations of me and I hate making mistakes, even if it is a typo in a document The anxiety that I'll never live up to my potential becomes so crippling, it becomes counter productive and like Dr. Strange, I forseen like a 100 different possible outcomes of every decision because I can't seem to turn my brain off! Ignorance is bliss and I so wish I could be ignorant

I think I'm losing my mind. I'm a 32-year-old guy in tech, graduated from IIIT Delhi, earning 78L annually, but I feel like I'm fooling everyone, including myself. It's as if I'm constantly waiting for someone to burst into the office and shout, "Hey, fraud! We've finally figured out you're actually useless!" I know it sounds like I'm humble-bragging, but trust me, I'm not. This feeling is eating me alive. Seven years ago, I started as a regular software engineer. Somehow, I kept getting promoted. Now I'm leading a team of 15 people, handling critical projects, and sitting in meetings with the higher-ups. But every time I'm in those meetings, I feel like a kid wearing his dad's oversized suit, pretending to be an adult. I work my ass off - late nights, weekends, you name it. But I always feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water. When my team comes to me with problems, I'm secretly panicking, thinking, "Why are you asking me? I'm as clueless as you!" The worst part? Everyone around me seems to think I'm some kind of wunderkind. My boss is always praising me in front of others. My team looks up to me. Even my parents are bragging about me to all our relatives. But inside, I'm constantly terrified that I'll make one tiny mistake and everyone will realize I'm a fraud. I see my college batchmates on LinkedIn, and they all seem so confident and successful. Meanwhile, I'm here, earning more than I ever thought I would, but feeling like I don't deserve any of it. I can't even enjoy my success. I bought a nice house last year, but instead of feeling proud, I keep thinking, "What if they fire me tomorrow? How will I pay for this?" It's like I'm waiting for everything to come crashing down. I know it's ridiculous to complain about a high-paying job when so many people are struggling. But this constant fear of being "found out" is driving me insane. I can't even talk to my friends about it because they'll probably think I'm just showing off. Has anyone else felt like this? How do you deal with feeling like a fraud when everyone thinks you're successful? Is this just part of adult life that no one talks about? This is what eats me alive during weekends, realised it's Friday and panic typed this here

You meet new people - on some you cringe, some are boring, some intrigue you, some you respect, and some are intimidating It is the intimidating lot that makes me jhzdgfhfghsjj (how do I explain this) I feel small infront of them, even though I am not in the same room or face to face There's an unknown fear, it feels you have to prove yourself to them (for no reason) Somehow our brains put them on a higher pedestal for various reasons - it is different reasons for different people Why why do I have to feel like this? How do I get rid of it?

I'm continuously learning and upskilling myself but still there are lots of things which make me question myself am I a mediocre? Be it conversations with intelligent people or someone in the same stacks I'm working in or with some random girl with good communication skills whom I met on a dating app.

1. You are building a software that otherwise could be built by a 12 year old kid, if given proper training. 2. You cannot code if I cut off google, stackoverflow & related websites. 3. You are just concerned about producing the output quickly because a. your work is time bound, b. you want to stand out from others. 4. You attend countless meetings that carry no value, thanks to Agile. 5. 10 people write code for the same software which otherwise could have been written by 1 person. 6. You write pages of documents just because you are expected to write for the team, compliance & stuff. 7. You don’t care about non-functional requirements as nobody asked for it. 8. You are spending hours together in coding a simple thing & you are branded a hard-worker. 9. Or you don’t spend much time in coding because you impress people with tech jargons that you learnt recently. You are branded a smart-worker. 10. The code you write will be completely rewritten in next 3-4 years just to catch up with the industry trends. 11. Your only goal is to earn loads of money which otherwise could not be earned in other engineering fields. That’s one of the reasons why you are on grapevine. Prove me wrong if you can, by commenting your opinion.

29F, IIT & IIM grad. Thought I had it all figured out. Boy, was I wrong. Post-grad, I went full-on hustle mode. Guru worship 24/7. Gary Vee, desi "entrepreneurs" on Insta - you name it, I followed. Their mantra? Work 20hrs, sleep 4, crush life. Sounded legit to my overachiever brain. My life became a freakin' checklist: - 5AM wake-up: Check - Cold shower: Check - Meditation: Check - 12hr workday on my "revolutionary" startup: Check - Networking events instead of family time: Check - Endless online courses: Check Rinse and repeat. Every. Single. Day. Guilt was my constant companion. Watching a movie? Slacker. Attending a cousin's wedding? Waste of time. Celebrating Diwali? Think of all the work you could be doing! The kicker? Being a woman in tech. Felt like I had to hustle 10x harder just to be taken seriously. Result after 3 years of this madness? - Forbes 30U30 Asia: Check - Failed startup: Check - Nonexistent social life: Check - Chronic anxiety: Check Guess what: All that hustling led to jack shit. Now, at 29, I'm unlearning this toxic BS. Realizing success isn't about IIT tags, funding rounds, or how little you sleep. It's about actually living. To all the desi kids killing themselves over JEE ranks and CAT scores: STOP. Your life is worth more than a percentile. Success without happiness is worthless. Don't waste your 20s like I did, chasing someone else's definition of success. Anyone else been through this hustle culture hellscape? How'd you break free?

So , I graduated in 2023 from a decent college (private) and my branch was CSE. I had a job which I didn't do due to some reasons and then started looking for another job . It's mid of 2024 now and I still don't have a job and I am in desperate need of a job and the problem is I don't know what to do now . I don't know if I should continue preparing on my own or get a course with job support ,I don't know if I should change my sector or continue with it , lots of things going on my head I hope to get some great suggestions over here P.s. i think getting a course with job support will be ideal for me

So I’ve been a below avg. looking guy my entire school and college life. Got a decent job offer (8LPA) during my campus placements. This was the story till January 2023. Now It’s been around 1.5 Years. I’ve been working out 6 days a week (rarely skips), eat super clean food (monthly 1 cheat meal), started a skincare routine and tried to learning new technologies in search of a better job. This is the routine I followed for the entire 1.5 years. Right now, I’ve a high paying job and a great physique. (Went from 68Kgs to 81Kgs) A few women have approached me in last 3-4 months. In the gym, people come and talk to me regarding my diet and workout. A lot of people are sending me linkedin connections requests, asking for referral and guidance. But now I don’t wanna talk to anyone because no one wanted to talk that ugly, lean and broke me. Wish someone would’ve came to that old version of me and said “You are enough”.