Overcoming Inadequacy
The fear of not knowing enough has often hindered me from doing the things I love to do. For example, four years ago, I was working for a small web design firm that consisted of my brother, my boss, and me. Unfortunately, my boss was a self-centered jerk who preached good works and then cheated me and my brother out of thousands of dollars in taxes that I’m still trying to pay back to this day, but that’s another story for another day. The point is that my boss’s inability to run an honest business resulted in the downfall of the business, and I was left with no a job (and a $6,000 tax bill).
While unemployed, I was often tempted to start up my own web design business, but all I had done for my previous employer was web design. I would design the sites and then hand them over to my brother to do all the hardcore back-end programming. So for fear of what I didn’t know how to do, I never did start that business. Instead I started studying web development in more depth, which was a good move, but I never got to the point where I felt confident enough to find clients and get busy.
Only recently have I realized that I don’t have to know everything there is to know about web development in order to create killer websites! Instead of dwelling on my weaknesses, I’ve started focusing on my strengths, and I’ve been able to create some great stuff.
This morning, I stumbled across a post by one of my favorite bloggers, Josh Mullineaux, where he talked about ‘Why It’s Okay to Suck Sometimes’. This post reminded me of how I got where I am today by overcoming this feeling that I wasn’t good enough. Thanks, Josh!