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If I had a dollar for every time I wondered when I was going to get fired for incompetence, I'd be a millionaire. Most of the time I know that I know my trade

by daeken 15y ago

If I had a dollar for every time I wondered when I was going to get fired for incompetence, I'd be a millionaire. Most of the time I know that I know my trade -- I get a fairly regular stream of compliments from coworkers, customers, peers on random projects, etc and I generally feel I produce a lot of value. But the second something happens that points in the other direction, even something minor like a slight flaw in a report to a client, I immediately fall into the "how am I still around?" trap. I've gotten good at pushing that down and moving forward until I feel good about what I'm doing again, but it's tough. I'm just glad I'm not the only one that feels this way; from what I can tell, this is fairly common. I wonder if this ever really goes away? It seems that for me, the more I realize I don't know (which is, of course, always increasing along with the things I do know) the more common it gets. Curse of knowledge, I guess.

InfinityX0 15y ago
Herein lies the importance of metacognition - "thinking about thinking". If we are aware of this bias, it lowers the blow when it seeps into our consciousness. I am becoming increasing aware of the power of mindfulness, as promoted by Merlin Mann, Buddhism and more. This is the hack that can drive happiness, health, and the interaction of the two. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition http://www.43folders.com/topics/mindfulness http://www.43folders.com/topics/mindfulness
icey 15y ago
I got my first paid programming job when I was 18, and I knew that I was way out of my element. So I knuckled down and worked my ass off to try to figure out what I didn't know, and how I could get better. I'd change jobs every so often to see if I could try something bigger. Every time, I knew I was totally out of my league again... So I knuckled down and worked my ass off to figure out how to be better at that. I was certain that I was going to fail miserably once my luck ran out. Eventually I was going to do something so horrifically bad that I'd get laughed out of town and never work again. 15 years after my first programming gig, and now I'm self-employed. I have a few customers that are helping me pay my bills so that I can try something bigger. I'm still pretty sure I'm out of my league, so all I can do is hunker down and hope like hell I'm not incompetent and oblivious. I don't have anything to suggest to you to help make the feeling go away, but I'm afraid you're probably going to be stuck with it for awhile :)
- ericd 15y ago
  I think all that means is that you're always learning. After 15 years of that, you're probably waaaay better rounded than the guys who stuck with the same job for that same period and feel comfortable that they know everything they need to.
- srl 15y ago
  You've gone 15 years without ever having the misfortune of being stuck in an environment where all you could do was think about how boring what you're doing is (and, quite possibly, how incompetent those around you are). You've spent 15 years challenging yourself, doing (I presume) interesting things. Ordinarily I'd put some pithy seven-worder here about how lucky you are and how "motivational speakers" probably shit their pants just looking at you, but I honestly can't think of one that's good enough. Sorry, man :)
mbesto 15y ago
Isn't amazing how many people are really bad at their jobs? I spent 3 years feeling that anytime I made a mistake I was a failure, and there should be no reason I should be there anymore. Everything is relative!

by daeken 15y ago

InfinityX0 15y ago

Herein lies the importance of metacognition - "thinking about thinking". If we are aware of this bias, it lowers the blow when it seeps into our consciousness. I am becoming increasing aware of the power of mindfulness, as promoted by Merlin Mann, Buddhism and more. This is the hack that can drive happiness, health, and the interaction of the two. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition http://www.43folders.com/topics/mindfulness http://www.43folders.com/topics/mindfulness

icey 15y ago

I got my first paid programming job when I was 18, and I knew that I was way out of my element. So I knuckled down and worked my ass off to try to figure out what I didn't know, and how I could get better. I'd change jobs every so often to see if I could try something bigger. Every time, I knew I was totally out of my league again... So I knuckled down and worked my ass off to figure out how to be better at that. I was certain that I was going to fail miserably once my luck ran out. Eventually I was going to do something so horrifically bad that I'd get laughed out of town and never work again. 15 years after my first programming gig, and now I'm self-employed. I have a few customers that are helping me pay my bills so that I can try something bigger. I'm still pretty sure I'm out of my league, so all I can do is hunker down and hope like hell I'm not incompetent and oblivious. I don't have anything to suggest to you to help make the feeling go away, but I'm afraid you're probably going to be stuck with it for awhile :)

ericd 15y ago
I think all that means is that you're always learning. After 15 years of that, you're probably waaaay better rounded than the guys who stuck with the same job for that same period and feel comfortable that they know everything they need to.
srl 15y ago
You've gone 15 years without ever having the misfortune of being stuck in an environment where all you could do was think about how boring what you're doing is (and, quite possibly, how incompetent those around you are). You've spent 15 years challenging yourself, doing (I presume) interesting things. Ordinarily I'd put some pithy seven-worder here about how lucky you are and how "motivational speakers" probably shit their pants just looking at you, but I honestly can't think of one that's good enough. Sorry, man :)

mbesto 15y ago

Isn't amazing how many people are really bad at their jobs? I spent 3 years feeling that anytime I made a mistake I was a failure, and there should be no reason I should be there anymore. Everything is relative!