What you know already is good enough to continue moving forward
I’ve always doubted what I already know.
It’s something that I’ve done and sometimes not even realized. I’ve always been a curious cat, wanting to know a little bit about everything. I’ve talked about this on my podcast more in-depth, but there’s so much in the world that I want to learn about, and I’m continually being flooded with new information about what’s hot in the world: Politics, music business, renewable and sustainable energy, technology (I love gadgets!), the universe, people, podcasting. The list goes on.
I’m also reminded that I can’t become good at something if I’m trying to do everything. I look at people I admire. They don’t do six different things sort of well. They do one thing really well. Musicians, businessmen and women, podcasters, and technology gurus all have something they do really well, and that’s why I always gravitate towards them and their content. They’re not one-man bands.
I know that I do too much, but I’ll never be able to stop myself from wanting to learn another thing.
Ultimately, I want to be writing and producing music full-time. As a classmate said in college, that’s a “Ferrari goal.” Over the last year, I’ve realized that if I want to do music full-time then I can’t be doing as much journalism work (it doesn’t pay, either), podcasting, watching mindless TV, and spreading myself thin on projects that won’t aid in my success in music. This has been hard.
I am still writing music. I haven’t released anything in a while, but there’s a reason for that. I’ve learned a lot about releasing music over the last few years. It’s become hard for me to just upload a track to SoundCloud and call it a day. Each piece of music is a work of art and deserves to be heard, especially if I want it to get in front of the right people.
While I haven’t “made it” just yet, my time hasn’t been wasted. I’ve continually put myself in opportunities and jobs that allow me to continue learning about the very things I want to be successful at. From these jobs and opportunities I’ve been surrounded by people who know more than me and I’m able to learn. I’ve learned where to delegate my time and efforts and know when I need to turn down an opportunity.
I’ve learned that doing music full-time is most definitely not an easy feat, but it can be done. I’m always up for a good challenge. And when I get into something, I get into it. Figuratively and literally. I’ll let you think about it. ;)
In this process, I’ve let myself down a few times because I told myself I didn’t know something I actually did know.
It’s not always rainbows, lollipops, and puppies. That does sound lovely, though. But it’s not how the world works. And you’re going to be very upset with yourself if you continue thinking this is how the world works.
I’ve had a lot of “aha!” moments during my journey. Here’s what I mean by that: As I previously mentioned, I’ve learned a little bit about a lot of stuff. Some of it certainly isn’t as grounded as other information, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. For example, I’ve built a few websites, including this one, over the years. I’m certainly not a web developer by any stretch of the imagination, but I know enough to navigate around the basics of WordPress and Squarespace.
At work, I recently oversaw the company’s website redesign. I worked closely with the web design company, and when they would go into the technical web development jargon I was able to understand what they were referring to. It wasn’t totally out of my wheelhouse (although a few times it did go a little over my head). I was then able to translate what they were talking about and doing and water it down to keep the team informed.
I didn’t need to know the ins and outs of a code. I didn’t need to know PHP, but I knew that this did that, which made that do this. What I knew about web development, design, SEO, WordPress, and themes was enough.
A few weeks ago, a friend reached out with an issue in his WordPress site. It was a simple issue, but it was one that could’ve been caused by a few various things. I knew what things to try and figured it out within a few minutes. What I knew was enough to solve this issue (and a few other small ones).
Sometimes it’s not a lot, but it’s oftentimes plenty.
With the previously mentioned scenarios, I knew enough to get by. Again, I’m not a web developer by any means, but I’ve learned enough over the years to accomplish certain tasks.
I’ve been able to use the knowledge I’ve gained on various projects in my personal and professional life. This has confirmed that I don’t always have to know everything about something in order to succeed with it. I’ve been able to move forward and continually remind myself that what I know is, as my grandma always says, “a great plenty.”
Here’s how you can prove to yourself what you know is good enough.
Whether it be in your personal or professional life, take mental notes of the little affirmations. When you’re trying something out and it works and say, “I knew that,” take a note of that moment. Or when someone is having difficulty with something and you offer your advice and it works, take note. If you didn’t know enough about something you wouldn’t offer your advice in the first place, right?
Try something out and then have someone look over your work. Was it done correctly? Yes? Great work! Don’t just do it because it has to get done. Do it because you genuinely want to learn it. Then have someone look over your work so you can confirm to yourself that you do, in fact, know enough.
Don’t tie yourself up in the small details. Always press forward.
If you’re like me, you’ll struggle with confidence. That’s hard to overcome, but you’re never going to know until you try. You have to start putting yourself out there and try new things. Offer advice where you can. Write a blog post sharing your expertise. Be a guest on a podcast. One of the best ways to learn something is to teach it. I’ve learned so much more about a specific subject matter when I teach it to someone else.
It’s so important for you to keep moving forward, even though you don’t think you know enough to do so. It’s okay not to know everything, and people don’t expect you to. Unless you’re a surgeon.
Everything I’ve done up until this point in my life has been a continued educational journey. When I started my podcast, I didn’t know everything about podcasting. I knew enough about it to get started. When I started my electronic music news site EDM In A Soda, I didn’t know everything about music journalism. I knew enough. When I’m writing music, I don’t know everything about music theory. I’m a perpetual student.
Take a deep breath and push yourself to try the next step in something you’ve been learning. What you know is enough.
