The power of Thoughts: You can do anything you set set your mind to!

I recently attended a lecture on the power of thoughts and I was literally floored [Feels awesome when you have tons of projects]! It’s a subject near and dear to me because it can be life changing. Now, you may already know that you should care about your self-talk. Let me tell you why it’s important, especially for women in science and engineering.

Few weeks ago, Sheryl Sandberg shared at the CBS This Morning show that "The data says that stereotypes hold us [women] back. The reason girls don't think they're good in math and science is because everyone tells them they're not good at science. Studies show that if right before a math test you tell girls, 'Girls are good at math' or 'Girls do well on the test,' they do better." Of course, people are not always available to tell you how awesome you are and how great you are going to do! That’s why you need to help yourself [and those around you]: Tap your back and convince your wonderful mind that you can do it [exams, projects, whatever awesome dream you have]! You will be amazed at the results.

Back on my lecture about “The Power Thoughts”, the professor - a well-known engineer - showed us how thoughts are converted to chemical, physiological actions and reactions. The next experiment perfectly proved how thoughts can induce a chemical reaction:

•  Think about a lemon - a sour candy - a green lime
•  Imagine cutting a wedge of lemon or lime
•  Imagine smelling the lemon or lime
•  Take the wedge of the lemon and put it in your mouth.
•  Chew the wedge of the lemon - the very sour juice of the lemon now comes into your mouth and stimulates your taste buds
•  Concentrate - close your eyes and don’t block your thoughts - make it a reality for yourself.
• You will notice that your mouth became more watery. Salivary glands have responded to the sour taste of the lemon/lime thoughts. QED!

Don’t let that impostor syndrome fool you! Shut “anti-self” thoughts and shine bright. Success begins in your mind! So, next time negative thoughts creep in your mind, remind yourself (yes, you!) that you are awesome, smart and ready to rock the world!

Stay great!
Daniella


P.S.: Just because I love quotes, here is a related to today’s topic:

For more:

Check out this blog about the power of choosing your thoughts: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-firestone/choosing-your-thoughts_b_3461686.html

Also watch the following TED talk to find out how your power posing can boost your confidence. It might help you if you feel nervous every time you have a presentation or an interview ;-) http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html

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Daniella is a Master's student in Electrical and Computer Engineering. One of her dreams is to inspire more women to embrace STEM careers and unleash their full potential. Although she is hardworking and can be very serious, she enjoys comedy and dancing, has a big sense of humour, and believes that a little kindness goes a long way!

Don't forget to be awesome: Self confidence tricks for those in geeky fields

I write for the Geek Feminism blog, and for the past little while we've been answering reader questions. My latest post there was on a question that might be of interest to CU-WISE folk:

"How do you keep up your inner reserves of self-confidence?"

The poster suggested that this was particularly difficult as a women in science, engineering and technology, because a lot of what you have to do involves trying things and failing a bunch before you figure it out.

I've put together 5 of the tips I usually give to students. Here's the short version:

1. Remember that you're not alone
2. Cultivate your shield of arrogance
3. Find your cheerleading squad
4. Celebrate your accomplishments
5. Don’t forget to be awesome

To read more about what I mean by these, check out Self Confidence Tricks @ GeekFeminism.org. Here's the first one:

Remember that you're not alone

Lots and lots of very smart people have trouble with self-confidence. In fact, there are so many people who have this problem, that they have a couple of terms regarding the phenomenon:

• Imposter syndrome refers to the fact that many people feel like they're not good enough to be doing what they're doing. They feel like they're impostors who don't belong and eventually someone will notice and kick them out of the field.
  
• Dunning-Kruger effect refers to a very strange cognitive bias: People who are vaguely incompetent will over-rate their abilities, and those who are highly competent will under-rate theirs.
  

So remember that your insecurity may actually be a sign of intellectual maturity: you've learned enough to understand what you don't know. And remember that some of those people who say they're awesome may not be. Especially in first year computer science, where I teach, there's a lot of blow-hard teenaged boys, and I remind people of that regularly.

[Read the rest on GeekFeminism.org.]

That Time I Felt Like an Impostor

From my blog:

What a failure I felt like right then and there. It was as though I'd made it to the thesis portion of my Masters with almost all A+'s, and somehow didn't deserve it. It was as though all the scholarships I'd managed to get throughout my academic career weren't really meant to go to someone like me. I was no researcher - I was an impostor!

Read the whole story!

The Imposter WISE women (Part 2 of 2)

In a previous post, I listed some of the symptoms of the imposter syndrome discussed at the “Imposter Panel" in the Grace Hopper Conference 2008.
If you have ever felt like an imposter and you are wondering if there is a cure for it, here’s how the panellists deal with it:

• There is no cure! It never stops (always new responsibilities). Treat the symptoms.
• Believe in yourself and surround yourself with others that believe in you.
• Value the things you’re good at, remember your previous successes. Think about where you were (5-10) years ago.
• Accept self-doubt as part of who you are. Remember how many other people that you believe successful people have doubted themselves.
• Take risks (calculated) ... you’ll stand out.
  

If you ever felt an imposter, like all these women (including myself) have, you know by now that:

• You’re not the only one,
• there’s no cure, but
• you can treat the symptoms and
• you’ll eventually feel less imposter with time and practice.

This panel was one of my favorites. I'm looking forward for Grace Hopper 2009 in Tucson, AZ. Keep tuned for blogs about similar topics this year.

Are you an impostor?

What is the Impostor Syndrome?
According to good ol’ Wikipedia:

"Regardless of what level of success they may have achieved in their chosen field of work or study or what external proof they may have of their competence, those with the syndrome remain convinced internally they do not deserve the success they have achieved and are actually frauds. Proof of success is dismissed as luck, timing, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking they were more intelligent and competent than they believe themselves to be."

Last year at GHC2008, my favorite session was The Impostor Panel, where five incredibly successful women stood up one by one on stage and revealed that they were impostors. Telle Whitney, CEO of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, mentions in her blog post about the panel:

“By talking about your experience, you have a chance to make a difference in others lives.”

So, Are you an Impostor?
My name is Serena, and I am an impostor.

I might not be your stereotypical nerd and I might not be the most tech-savvy geek in the world. I like the color pink, I like wearing dresses, and I like to paint my nails. But does that make me less of a geek?

I distinctly remember the first time I stepped into my first computer science class, almost four years ago. I had arrived early and I remember walking up to the big auditorium doors where the rest of the students were waiting to get in, and thinking "Why are there only guys here? Maybe this is the wrong classroom." I was seconds away from turning around, until I heard one of the students mention the course code. This was my class.

As I walked into the auditorium, I quickly scanned the rows for a friendly face to sit beside. I distinctly remember feeling like I stood out like a sore thumb in my bright pink t-shirt amid the crowd of males shuffling down the rows with their worn out black heavy-metal t-shirts and greasy hair.

And then I saw it; a friendly face waving at me, another female. We became friends instantly. We both went into the Computer Science program without taking any previous computer courses at all, and felt like we were falling behind quickly. After the first few weeks, we still had no idea what was going on in class and both failed our very first university midterm (though unfortunately not our last, ha!). What did we get ourselves into? We were convinced that people were beginning to whisper "what is SHE doing here, girls can't program". Unfortunately throughout the years, that feeling of insecurity never really went away.

We never felt like we belonged here, but we weren't going to give up that easily. I felt discouraged and disappointed, but I at least I wasn't alone. Assignments that only took about an hour for other students to finish, took us weeks to complete, but we always helped each other along the way. We were impostors in disguise, trying to fool everyone into believing that we belonged.

And now four years later, somehow we survived. Having that support network to motivate and encourage each other was vital for my success, and this became one of my main objectives in establishing the CU-WISE group on campus. Hopefully it can make a difference in someone else's life. We've already experienced so much success over the past two years, and are fortunate enough to be able to present a session at GHC this October.


Closing thoughts..
Why do we underestimate ourselves so much? Do others secretly feel the same way? Are we all impostors in disguise?

The Imposter WISE women (Part 1 of 2)

“It seems that you have the imposter syndrome” told me a good friend of mine when I was talking about my new job, which I didn’t think I would get. I had never heard about it before, and it was until Grace Hopper 2008 that I heard about it again.

I was very surprised to see the room full, even with people standing for the Imposter Panel. My initial thought was: Do all of these women share my feelings? And it was confirmed when the moderator started the panel with the question: “Who has felt as an impostor in her life?” And everyone raised their hands. I was even more surprised to hear that these feelings were very common in WISE women.

The panellist were successful, recognized women in industry and academia. One by one, the panellists completed the sentence: “I feel an imposter when...”

These are some of their answers:

• I am in new situations (new school, new job, etc.).
• I don’t understand what people are talking about.
• I get asked to do things I don’t feel qualified for.
• I do something that successful people do.
• I do something that women don’t often do.

One of the panellists shared that she used to feel an impostor attending a math conference (1975), giving a talk (1980) or meeting Nobel laureates (2000) but she does not feel like that anymore in those circumstances. However, has attended lots of conferences and given many talks without that feeling. However, she still feels and impostor meeting philanthropists and asking for large amounts of funding for her University.

If you have ever felt as an imposter, you know by now that you’re not the only one. Is there a “cure” for this syndrome? In the next post I will tell you what the panellists have done to deal with it.

Keep tuned and share your “imposter” stories!