Quote of the Day: Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant on Rethinking Self-Doubt and Building Confidence

Adam Grant is a pop-science author and organizational psychologist. He’s also a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where his research interests include “generosity and helping, job design and meaningful work, leadership and culture, originality and non-conformity, [and] work motivation and success.” He’s well-known online as a New York Times bestselling author of more than five self-improvement books, like Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know.

With all of his writing, it’s no wonder he has words that made our quote of the day today. It comes from a book where he talks about not living up to your full potential, and the quote itself is about not doubting yourself. Or rather, shifting your perspective and investigating why you doubt the good things about yourself. 

Grant is a top-rated professor at Wharton and has done research that challenges “us to rethink fundamental assumptions about motivation, generosity and creativity,” per TED’s website. He has done multiple TED Talks, all of which have a combined 35 million views, per his website. He’s also the host of the Re: Thinking podcast and cohost of The Curiosity Shop with Brené Brown. 

He received his PhD from the University of Michigan and his B.A. from Harvard University. And as his site says, in his work, Grant “rethinks how we work and live.” So with all of that in perspective, let’s jump into today’s quote. Which calls us out for doubting the good in ourselves but not the bad, and how we can rework that so we don’t do either and recognize our worth.

Related: Quote of the Day: Psychologist Abraham Maslow on Personal Growth, Success and Stepping Out of Our Comfort Zones

Quote of the Day by Adam Grant

“If you doubt yourself, shouldn’t you also doubt your low opinion of yourself?”

This quote is from Grant’s book, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things, in which he writes about what we’re missing by overlooking people who aren’t born with “innate advantages” or who come out the gate as “gifted” students. This “leads us to overlook the distances we ourselves can travel. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.”

He also points to “groundbreaking evidence” and insights that back up his point, and goes into stories from classrooms to professional sporting events. Grant speaks to progress, growth, hard work and more—plus, how to build up your own skills so you can reach your full potential.

“Growth is not about the genius you possess—it’s about the character you develop,” the book description reads.

The full quote is as follows:

“Not long ago, it dawned upon me that impostor syndrome is a paradox:

• Others believe in you
• You don’t believe in yourself
• Yet you believe yourself instead of them

If you doubt yourself, shouldn’t you also doubt your low opinion of yourself?”

Related: Quote of the Day: Psychologist Angela Duckworth on Effort, Talent and ‘Unmet Potential’

Deeper Meaning of Adam Grant’s Quote—Rethinking Self-Doubt 

If you look at the full version of this quote, Grant is saying that if you catch yourself doubting yourself and your abilities, such as with imposter syndrome, you should do some reframing in your brain. Essentially, it doesn’t make sense to question your good attributes when you’re getting validation from others or from the work you put out, rationally knowing what you can achieve. So if you’re going to throw that all out the window and doubt yourself, why don’t you also doubt all the bad opinions about yourself, too? 

The point he’s trying to make is the silly concept of questioning your competence if there’s nothing to back it up, while also not questioning low opinions of yourself, too. Because if you’re going to do one, you should do both. 

But yet, we aren’t skeptical (for the most part) about the low opinions of us. Those opinions can kind of enhance our insecurities. It’s really easy to accept the bad things about ourselves and our abilities. But if we’re doubting ourselves (for the good), shouldn’t we doubt ourselves for everything (including the bad)?

With that mindset, we might be able to eliminate imposter syndrome from taking hold. Or at the very least, be able to remind ourselves of the positives. Because if you’re not going to believe in yourself and give in to your thoughts about how you’re not good enough, why listen to the voices in your head pointing out your flaws?

Related: Quote of the Day: Psychologist B.F. Skinner on Perseverance, Reframing and Never Giving Up

More Quotes from Adam Grant

• “In the deepest sense of the word, a friend is someone who sees more potential in you than you see in yourself, someone who helps you become the best version of yourself.”
• “Argue like you’re right and listen like you’re wrong.”
• “If knowledge is power, knowing what we don’t know is wisdom.”
• “We listen to views that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard.”
• “Procrastination may be the enemy of productivity, but it can be a resource for creativity.”
• “A mark of lifelong learners is recognizing that they can learn something from everyone they meet.”
• “Being original doesn’t require being first. It just means being different and better.”

Up Next:

Related: Quote of the Day: Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson on Building Community and Connection With Others