I’m a videographer.
It’s really weird to say it out loud, but yeah, at the moment, I kinda am. I mean, I shoot and edit videos for a living. Can you really believe it?
Neither do I. My work is not that good – there are still tons and tons of things to be improved, but currently I’m at that stage where I am finally able to take pride in my work, no matter how crappy it is.
Learning a new expertise is not easy. Really. Learning anything new is not easy. It takes you out of your comfort zone. It makes you consult Google again and again and again – trying to phrase your question in three different ways so you can arrive at the webpage that holds the correct answer. Plus, it makes you feel like a moron, because you know how good the standard should be, and you are nowhere near that.
So after seven months, I am getting more comfortable in operating the Adobe Premiere (despite it crashing on me several times now – I think I’ve worked the program to death). I am happy to share my work on the social media (I rarely share my videos before). I no longer dread the program nor the tasks that are entrusted to me, because I finally know that I can deliver.
It’s such. a. good. feeling.
Those of you who work will understand this. The feeling of finally, finally able to know for sure that you can do something. That you can meet the expectation of your bosses. That you can deliver.
Sure, it takes me seven months. Seven long months. I’ve been feeling like a dupe – only faking it without knowing if whether I can make it. Yes, the previous videos are not half-bad, but I know that my standard should have been higher. But my manager is right. The more I edit, the more my instinct kicks in, the more my skills are developed. No one gets it right on the first try (well, there will be some exceptions, I believe); you just have to persevere and keep on trying.
So here’s to learning new skills.
(Raising a phantom beer and drinking it.)
Here’s to accepting the challenge, and to persevering.
If you’ve just taken a new role where you are too far away from your comfort zone, know that you’re not alone.
And that you can do it.
Ps. If you’re curious about the work that I do, this is the video that I’m most proud of (to date).
P.Ps. Now you know why I have been away from blogging. Last week we held our first ever research conference and everyone’s been working hard on that. University starts next week though. Sad face.
Photo by Rachael Flanders Rodenmayer, Research Bazaar
