This summer, I was named a Leading Voice in analytical science by The Analytical Scientist and featured in their Power List 2025. Of course, I felt proud and excited to see my work and voice validated by the community. But it also made me reflect: have you noticed how dependent humans seem to be on external validation? Today’s society doesn’t help – as kids, we’re often encouraged to get the best grades; teenagers count their likes and views on social media; and adults seek compliments when they’ve done good work. We’re wired to seek approval and get that dopamine hit, but the satisfaction is unfortunately temporary. I’m not that different. For years, I’ve tended to be a people pleaser and often unconsciously sought external validation – whether it was acknowledgment from my boss about work I’d delivered or counting impressions and reactions to my social media posts.

Working in academia presents a huge challenge for self-worth: external validation is everywhere. Think about obtaining research funding through extremely competitive grants, navigating article peer review, the emphasis on citations and impact factors, securing tenure based on output agreements, and people bragging about their recent awards on LinkedIn. The problem? This environment can leave us feeling like we’re never enough regardless of our achievements (hello, imposter syndrome) or even push us toward burnout by encouraging us to constantly perform for others rather than follow genuine interests. Chasing what looks impressive rather than what feels right can also lead to career misalignment and an overall sense of unhappiness.

Early-career researchers such as PhD students and postdocs are especially vulnerable to academic external validation. Their professional experience isn’t rich enough yet to have developed a solid internal compass. Moreover, the combination of often being a perfectionist and people-pleaser, together with the pressure of having secured a competitive position, can be daunting and push them toward exhaustion.

It took me more than a decade – including going through a very difficult period and working on myself – to shift my compass from external to internal validation. Now, I journal every day to anchor myself in the present and remind myself of what truly matters to me. Whenever I catch myself falling into the external validation spiral, I step back and review the small victories I’ve achieved recently.

Interested in moving from external to internal validation? Here are some practical strategies to help you build your own internal compass:

• Define your own success metrics. What does success mean to you? What genuinely excites you about your work? What impact matters to you? For me, it isn’t the number of articles I publish or the citations I get – it’s the knowledge I share with younger scientists and the impact I have on the next generation.
• Keep a “small wins journal”. Academia tends to acknowledge big achievements: massive funded grant proposals, prestigious awards, promotions. But small daily victories that only you notice matter too. Think of a successful experiment, a paragraph completed in your new manuscript, or a student understanding a complex concept thanks to your explanation. Make sure you see and document these achievements as well.
• Schedule regular compass checks. Plan regular reflections on whether your career choices still align with your values. Remember that values are dynamic and evolve throughout life – what seems important at 20 may not be a priority at 25 or 30 anymore.
• Be mindful about people around you. Even with a strong internal validation compass, we remain human and stay sensitive to others’ opinions. With this in mind, be selective about whose opinions you seek and value. Favour those who support you and celebrate small wins with you, while keeping enough people around who push you out of your comfort zone to help you keep growing professionally and personally. Also, be mindful of the accounts you follow on social media and don’t hesitate to unfollow or mute those that make you feel miserable.
• Practice self-compassion. Academia isn’t a place where people get celebrated for their small wins. So you need to do this yourself. Treat yourself as kindly as you would treat a mentee.

Academia will always have systems built around external validation – that’s unlikely to change. But your relationship with these systems can evolve. Building internal validation doesn’t mean ignoring all feedback or becoming indifferent to recognition. Instead, it means developing a stronger sense of your own worth and direction, so that external validation becomes useful information rather than the source of your self-worth. When you’re driven by genuine passion and aligned with your values, your work becomes more authentic and impactful. The paradox? This internal confidence often leads to better external outcomes, too.