Forgive me if I'm off base, but I am getting a vibe that you are very concerned about what others think of you.
My advice (which is free internet advice, so take that for all it's worth) is that this is holding you back. As long as you don't see yourself as a fraud, it doesn't matter if someone else calls you one.
And, now I've done diagnosing you, I'll now assume you're in the exact same situation as I was (which is even worse internet advice, so prepare to pile up some massive grains of salt)
Because it wasn't that long ago, I remember the first time a project of mine got the focused attention of the HN front page. I was very nearly physically ill, because I was sure I was going to be judged harshly by some internet rando.
And yes, eventually someone did claim that my project was lame / worthless / something else equally stinging, and yes, it did hurt my feelings for a while.
But then I realised that I didn't care what they thought. I'd finished my project to (generally) good acclaim and they were just some bitter armchair expert who felt they had to chip in.
The good news is that it's easily solved, you need a tougher skin. The bad news is the only way you can do that is by putting stuff out there, failing, and then doing it all again :)
My advice (which is free internet advice, so take that for all it's worth) is that this is holding you back. As long as you don't see yourself as a fraud, it doesn't matter if someone else calls you one.
And, now I've done diagnosing you, I'll now assume you're in the exact same situation as I was (which is even worse internet advice, so prepare to pile up some massive grains of salt)
Because it wasn't that long ago, I remember the first time a project of mine got the focused attention of the HN front page. I was very nearly physically ill, because I was sure I was going to be judged harshly by some internet rando.
And yes, eventually someone did claim that my project was lame / worthless / something else equally stinging, and yes, it did hurt my feelings for a while.
But then I realised that I didn't care what they thought. I'd finished my project to (generally) good acclaim and they were just some bitter armchair expert who felt they had to chip in.
The good news is that it's easily solved, you need a tougher skin. The bad news is the only way you can do that is by putting stuff out there, failing, and then doing it all again :)