Axios CEO Jim VandeHei is here with advice on how to use your insecurities to motivate you. For a video version of this column (and to see what Jim looked like as a 20-year-old punk), click here. I wasn't a fast, early adopter of AI beyond basic search on ChatGPT, Jim writes, for the same reason many of you have balked at these muscular new tools: I was insecure about my ability to use it with any sophistication.
- My internal dialogue: I'm too old, too non-technical, too much of a words guy to make it work.
- Classic imposter moment: Who am I to think I can do this?
Why it matters: But I used my insecurity as a powerful motivator, much like I did in my early media career when I feared everyone in D.C. was better read, better educated, better connected than I was. (Spoiler: They were!)
I attacked it. I started building things — apps, tools, prototypes — with an AI model as my collaborator. No computer science degree. No coding boot camp. Just curiosity and stubbornness.
- And it worked. Not because I suddenly became technical, but because I refused to let the insecurity win.
The big picture: I've always assumed my insecurities are actually superpowers if used right. I wrote a Finish Line column on this very topic in 2022.
- Since then, the science seems to confirm it: Insecurity might be exactly what we need.
- The new science of imposter syndrome is striking. MIT Sloan researcher Basima Tewfik ran a lab experiment and found that people experiencing imposter thoughts exerted 13% more effort than their peers when the pressure was on. When they felt overwhelmed, the self-doubt didn't crush them. It fueled them.
A massive global meta-analysis published last year reviewed 30 studies covering nearly 12,000 people and found that 62% of high-achieving professionals experience imposter syndrome. That's not a bug in the human operating system. That's a feature — if you know how to use it.
Think about that: The majority of successful people around you feel like frauds. Most of us do. The question isn't whether you have imposter syndrome. It's whether you're using it in a healthy way.
Here's a 2026 version of how to leverage your insecurity in an AI world:
- Be honest — then get curious. My original advice was to understand your weaknesses. I'd sharpen that point. The people thriving in this AI moment aren't the ones with the fanciest résumés — they're the ones willing to say "I don't know," then obsessively ask questions until they do.
- Attack the weakness daily. When AI hit, I could have done what a lot of people my age did: Delegate it to younger staffers, nod along in meetings, fake fluency. Instead, I spent nights and weekends building things — terrible at first, then less terrible, then actually useful. You'll be shocked by how quickly persistent effort erodes a limitation you assumed was permanent. The gap between "I can't do this" and "I just did this" is smaller than you think.
- Weaponize the fury. Michael Jordan manufactured slights to fuel his competitive edge. That still works. But in this era, the best target for your fury isn't a rival or a critic — it's complacency. The people falling behind right now aren't the ones who lack talent. They're the ones who've gotten too comfortable. Channel the chip on your shoulder into relentless learning, not just relentless competing.
- Give yourself grace — but not an excuse. I still can't sing. I still can't dance. I'll never be great at Trivial Pursuit. At some point, lamenting what you can't do is wasted energy. But — and this is the key update — don't confuse "I'm not naturally good at this" with "I can't learn this." Those are very different things. The first is self-awareness. The second is a cop-out.
The bottom line: No sane person is as confident as they seem. That global study confirms it: Most high achievers walk around feeling like frauds. The successful people in my life simply accept that ... and channel it.
- Go deeper: Blunt AI talk.
📱 Let us know what you think: finishline@axios.com.
- 📚 Jim's book on life and leadership — "Just the Good Stuff: No-BS Secrets to Success," a New York Times bestseller — is coming out in paperback on April 21. Preorder here.
