Within the field of political science, I consider myself a comparativist, more than a specialist in international relations. Most of the work I have done has been within comparative politics and comparative public policy. Therefore, it’s natural that I seek to contrast across cases. The problem is that often times, I compare myself with others, which as many people have said, really does not help with self-esteem and fosters an impostor syndrome. That’s why so many people have said that “comparison is the thief of joy”. Well, not so true for my scholarly research, but it certainly is for my professional life.
Micro-thread on comparisons, impostor syndrome and goal achievement in academia. Like many of you, I sometimes feel inadequate. “I should have published six books by now”. “I don’t have an AJPS/APSR/ASR/JPART yet”. “My CV doesn’t look good enough”. I do feel this way, sometimes.
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 8, 2018
Truth be told, I have found that comparing myself to This Time Last Year’s Version of Me is a much more helpful approach.
Micro-thread on comparisons, impostor syndrome and goal achievement in academia. Like many of you, I sometimes feel inadequate. “I should have published six books by now”. “I don’t have an AJPS/APSR/ASR/JPART yet”. “My CV doesn’t look good enough”. I do feel this way, sometimes.
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 8, 2018
I see how much I have grown this year and I am amazed and grateful.
Addendum 23) COMPARE YOURSELF TO YOUR PAST SELF, NOT OTHERS. I am MUCH stronger now than I was 5 months ago. I know Paris and France and Europe much better, my spoken French has vastly improved, and I've been able to conduct interviews in French. I bettered MYSELF, not compared.
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 14, 2019
So that’s what I would recommend others to do. Don’t compare yourself to others, see how much you’ve grown within a year.
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