Nobody Else Knows What They’re Doing Either

It’s natural to feel intimidated. To feel under qualified. To feel naive. It’s even more natural as a young professional, a new graduate or even a student working through tough classes.

While it might feel like you’re on an island, trust me, nobody is immune to this. In fact, I had an undergraduate speech teacher tell me once that these types of nerves are a good thing. Being nervous and questioning how prepared you are shows that you really care about what you’re doing.

To be honest though, what I’ve learned so far is this.

Nobody really knows what they’re doing. 

Honestly. Why else would Google be as popular as it is? Not a single person has it all figured out. Nobody is all put together. Everyone has things to learn. 

Now as someone who can’t even always identify what all of my stuff is, it’s clear to me that some people have their stuff together a bit more neatly than others. That’s not to be said that they know exactly what they’re doing, though. 

Compared to me (a young professional with literally everything left to learn), these people are usually: 

• More experienced
• More confident
• Better at faking, and
• Have more resources

They use these advantages to learn a field, a position or a trade. As they continue to excel at that trade (or those trades, if they’re superhuman), they become more and more comfortable in their role thus giving off the impression that they “know what they’re doing.”

But let’s be real. Nobody really knows what they’re doing.

I know that’s a comforting thought, but we all still want to strive to be someone who seems to know what we're doing. So what we can do?

We can absorb everything—the good, the bad, the ugly. Literally everything. Take in what others in your work or school environment are doing. Learn from the mistakes others make. Master a skill others have. Absorb everything. 

We can have a good attitude. In fact, we can have an over-the-top, smile-through-the-pain, annoy-everyone-around, good attitude. Be willing to learn, develop and grow as a person and a professional. Adopt a good attitude.

We can fake it until we make it. One of the best TED talks I’ve ever seen deals with faking confidence until you feel confident. It’s a proven method to change your personal outcomes. Fake it until you make it.

It may not be natural to accept, but it’s time we all realize that we aren’t the only ones completely lost and confused. Nobody really knows what they’re doing.

So how do you plan to display that you do?