No One Knows What They’re Talking About

Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash

When I graduated college, I struggled for a few years as I had a few unhelpful thought patterns of what work should like.

What I eventually realized is that work is not like school

• Assignments are not clearly defined
• Your solution is not graded against a standard or a known answer-key
• There is no teacher/arbiter telling you if you were right or wrong

Being a task-oriented individual, this was a struggle for me. How was I supposed to know when I was done? Or if I did it right?

The pivot point for me was when I realized I had the freedom to -

• Co-create the assignment and help frame the problem-to-solve
• Define my own success criteria
• Seek out my own mentors for feedback
• In many instances, define my own deadlines

Freedom and fulfillment came once I realized that no one knows what they’re talking about. We’re all making it up as we go.

And if so…

I might as well define my own path.