Poll: How often do you doubt your achievements despite evidence of your success? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How often do you doubt your achievements despite evidence of your success?".
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I have been translating full-time for over 40 years now and yet, before delivering a large job, I always feel a slight apprehension: Have I done it right? Could I have done it better? I see this as a good thing as it keeps me on my toes. Overconfidence is a killer! The more translating I do, the more I realize just how much there is to learn. I suppose the fact that I have a good client base and that some of these customers have been with me for a long time and continue to entrust me with their ... See more I have been translating full-time for over 40 years now and yet, before delivering a large job, I always feel a slight apprehension: Have I done it right? Could I have done it better? I see this as a good thing as it keeps me on my toes. Overconfidence is a killer! The more translating I do, the more I realize just how much there is to learn. I suppose the fact that I have a good client base and that some of these customers have been with me for a long time and continue to entrust me with their translations means that I'm successful, although I don't see myself in those terms. I just feel good about myself and about what I have been doing and paid to do… ▲ Collapse
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Rarely but if I could have more time between the time I finish the translation and the delivery deadline, I'm sure I would be able to spot more things I would like to change and that I missed. It's only when you check your translation at a later period that you realise some changes could have made it better.
| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 18:17
French to English
There's always a moment of despair when I'm working on a tough translation for an art exhibition. But then I start looking back at previous translations to see if I've already translated whatever terms are giving me grief and I realise yet again that I was capable then and can surely be capable again.
It's actually pure torture pushing through that moment. But then when I've finally whipped the text properly into shape and realise that any further proofreading will only result in me takin... See more There's always a moment of despair when I'm working on a tough translation for an art exhibition. But then I start looking back at previous translations to see if I've already translated whatever terms are giving me grief and I realise yet again that I was capable then and can surely be capable again.
It's actually pure torture pushing through that moment. But then when I've finally whipped the text properly into shape and realise that any further proofreading will only result in me taking out the comma I added in earlier, I feel absolutely euphoric, and that brief euphoria more than makes up for all the torture, it even wipes the despair right out of my memory. Meaning I will eagerly accept the next translation and the torture-euphoria cycle cranks into action yet again. ▲ Collapse
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Hasrina Munajat
Malaysia
Local time: 00:17
Member (2023)
English to Malay
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SITE LOCALIZER | Sometimes I still doubt my own capability | Aug 16 |
Perhaps because I don't want to be too complacent, and I believe there are still rooms for improvement.
| | | | Liena Vijupe
Latvia
Local time: 19:17
Member (2014)
French to Latvian
+ ...
Overconfidence is a killer, but so is too much doubt. I am not a beginner who's just "experimenting" and trying out something new, I know what I am doing or else I wouldn't be doing it. I also know my shortcomings and either work to improve or don't touch something at all if I know I won't be able to defend myself.
Either way, there is only a very limited space for doubt (which is not the same as simple hesitation between alternative options or feeling that something could be done better)... See more Overconfidence is a killer, but so is too much doubt. I am not a beginner who's just "experimenting" and trying out something new, I know what I am doing or else I wouldn't be doing it. I also know my shortcomings and either work to improve or don't touch something at all if I know I won't be able to defend myself.
Either way, there is only a very limited space for doubt (which is not the same as simple hesitation between alternative options or feeling that something could be done better). I wonder if it might be just a fear of judgement and being exposed for making a "mistake" (also known as impostor syndrome)? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Chávez
United States
Local time: 12:17
Member (Jun 2024)
English to Spanish
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There's a reason human beings have such complex eyes and such developed sense of sight: we navigate and learn about our environment with our eyes from the moment we're born. Not long ago I read an insightful article on how eyesight restoration via surgery affected those who were born blind. In Marius von Senden's book titled “Space and Light,” we learn that people born blind have no notion of space. We see reality through space.
My point: our eyes tell us whether something is a ... See more There's a reason human beings have such complex eyes and such developed sense of sight: we navigate and learn about our environment with our eyes from the moment we're born. Not long ago I read an insightful article on how eyesight restoration via surgery affected those who were born blind. In Marius von Senden's book titled “Space and Light,” we learn that people born blind have no notion of space. We see reality through space.
My point: our eyes tell us whether something is a tree or a man. Why doubt what we're seeing? Similar thing with facts, especially those reported by others, like a satisfied client or teacher or manager.
It's normal to doubt our capacities but only when we are novice or inexperienced. If a translator doubts he or she can finish translating 10 pages of texts he or she know well from years of experience, the problem is, in my view, psychological or perceptual, it has nothing to do with the facts. So, why are we hearing about this general preoccupation with self-doubt or with the spurious “impostor's syndrome”? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 18:17
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
I do have an ever-lurking case of impostor syndrome, but in view of a) the complete garbage that is being touted as the future of translation and b) constant positive feedback from my clients and an ever-increasing number of video game titles in which I am credited, I have learned to silence it before it can make itself noticed most of the time.
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Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 12:17
German to English
| Every time I got paid ... | Aug 17 |
... an inner voice whispered "Fooled them again!"
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