Yes, I’m serious: You’re way more capable than you think. Here’s a story that’ll help illustrate that.
Several months ago, I was getting ready to treat students in my Speech-Language Pathology program for the first time.
The long-awaited day had finally come, and I was a bundle of nerves.
The night before, I had started frantically filling out pages of techniques and activities based on each student’s diagnosis to take with me.
Ideally, I would have been calm.
I would have been confident that I had learned everything I needed to start leading therapy sessions.
But to be completely honest, I wasn’t.
I felt like a fraud. Even though I had a 4.0 GPA in my program and was more than qualified, I was scared and unsure of myself.
During my nearly two-hour commute the next day, I worried about what would happen if I made a mistake — if, somehow, all my training and knowledge suddenly flew out the window when I needed it most.
I didn’t want to mess up, especially not when others were counting on me to make the right decisions.
For some reason, the prospect of implementing what I had watched others do over and over intimidated me to no end.
I felt like a baby taking her first, hesitant steps surrounded by people who had been walking for decades.
I was afraid of falling or looking clumsy or letting my supervisor down.
But I shouldn’t have worried.
When I arrived at my placement, a curly-haired four-year-old girl looked up at me with brown eyes full of trust.
She wasn’t afraid I would make a mistake. She just sat down, ready to begin her speech session like any other day.
Her confidence gave me hope.
I realized that if a mostly non-verbal four-year-old could come in, see me in the seat generally reserved for her Speech-Language Pathologist and trust that I was up to the task of being her replacement, I could also find the courage to do a good job and trust that everything would work out.
And of course, it did.
I got to treat several children that day, one after another, and the results were always the same.
Each pre-schooler who came through my door trusted that I would do my job. They put their faith in my abilities. They trusted me even when I struggled to trust myself.
As each speech session ended satisfactorily, my confidence grew.
I relaxed.
I stopped thinking of the worst-case scenario — of all the mistakes I might make and of all the problems I might encounter — and I started giving myself the trust those students had first given me.
On the drive home that day, I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
I no longer had a cloud of anxiety hovering over my head. I no longer doubted whether or not I would be up for a new challenge.
That day, I proved to myself that I was.
I proved that I was capable of much more than I had given myself credit for — that all I needed to do was put the skills I had learned to good use and ask for help if I needed it.
Don’t give in to self-doubt.
The most important lesson I learned that day is that often, we doubt ourselves and our abilities even if no one else does.
I realized that the other professionals at my placement knew I had it in me to do a good job.
They weren’t concerned I would make mistakes. Why would they be? They trusted me, as the students did. They trusted that, with practice, I would get better and better at what I needed to do, just as they had.
When you find yourself in situations where you’re afraid of making a mistake, take a step back. Breathe. You’re probably being overly self-critical. You’re probably much more capable than you think.
Keep in mind that no CEO or web developer or writer — no one, in fact — is born knowing how to excel in their field. Everyone goes through an often-clumsy, difficult learning curve before they reach the top.
Everyone.
That’s why there are so many mentors and supervisors and professors and teachers who can help you — because no one expects you to know everything on your first day.
Bottom line
When you step forward into unknown territory, know that you are also stepping into a great opportunity for growth. Yes, you’re much more capable than you think. Yes, you’re much more capable than you think of going after whatever it is you’re afraid to do.
And when you become an expert yourself — when you keep pushing through the self-doubt and stress and finally make it to a place where you know what you’re doing — don’t forget where you started.
Don’t forget all the people who helped you along the way: Those who stood by you and encouraged you and helped you see your own potential when you couldn’t see it yourself.
Don’t forget to pass the favor on. Be there for anyone who lacks confidence in their own abilities. Help them see what others showed you: that they can accomplish anything if they’re willing to learn.
When you do so, you’ll be helping to make the world a better place.
