Today we had another live call for the idgaf community and I was asked “how do you show up with confidence, when you’re still kinda new?”
Expertise isn’t binary
I think people look at expertise as either you’re an expert or you’re not. But they’re forgetting there’s another party in this conversation: the client.
You don’t have to be the best in the world to be good at what you do. You just need to be better enough than your clients.
Yes, you need to meet some minimum standards, but if you’re good enough to solve their problems, congrats - you’re (enough of) an expert.
Look beyond words
There was someone in the web space that shared content on linkedin all the time, and I was lowkey intimidated by them. They seemed to know their stuff, and lots of people praised them all the time.
So naturally, I thought I sucked in comparison. It’s easy to feel like you’re not good enough when you look around and see people sharing their views online and coming up with takes that you’re like “oh shit that’s clever.”
But then I went and checked their actual work. And you know? NOT THAT GREAT. My work was way better. So if someone who does worse work than I do is worthy of praise, maybe I can give myself a break.
Remember, the shit people put out on the internet is sanitised. Or is often an outright lie. Don’t buy the story, check the work and see the proof. And then make your call.
Who’s your actual competition
But even then, the kinds of clients I get typically aren’t in talks at the top design agencies in the world. So why am I comparing myself to them? Why am I trying to compete with the best in the world?
Look at your real competition. Check their portfolios, see what you would have done differently.
Forget comparing against best in the world when you’re not up against those people. Compare against the people you need to beat out for work. Odds are, you’re just as good, if not better.
Insecurity is a good thing
If you’re smart, you know you can be better. Congrats on being smart.
The only people who genuinely think they’re amazing and can’t do better, are people early into the Dunning Kruger chart.
When you know you can do better, when you have more to learn, you keep trying. You keep improving, you keep growing, and ultimately you become more and more of the expert with every single project you work on.
People that think they know everything…. don’t.
We don’t know how much we know
I watched the most entry level marketing presentation once, and I was shocked at how many business owners RAN to the presenter afterwards to enquire about being clients.
Later on when I spoke to him, I kinda mentioned it was a bit basic level, and he said “Nick, you’ve got no idea how many people don’t know the stuff you consider basic.”
It’s the nature of expertise. The stuff that we find challenging now, is the top tier level shit. Meanwhile, the stuff that we’re practically forgetting is still mind blowing to the average person.
So trust me on this, you know way more than you think.
Community for the win
I love being able to have these kinds of conversations and discussions with people. I’ve been in business for over 10 years, and have been giving business owners advice for even longer.
I still forget that a lot of the stuff I’ve dealt with over that time might not be the same shit the average business owner has dealt with.
That’s why being reminded of that in calls, or when people ask for advice on something, is so fucking awesome.
Cowabunga,
Nick Gulic
