Let Yourself Be Mediocre | by Demi Wait

“Jack of all trades, master of none.”

This is a phrase frequently repeated back to me when I talk about starting yet another hobby, or learning a new skill, especially after I’ve stopped loving my last one. I know I can’t be the only one. 

There’s always such an emphasis on this idea of being an “expert” lately, arguably only heightened by the highlight reels of incredible people we’re exposed to by social media daily. We, as humans, have some need to be great at everything, all the time.

Spoiler alert: it’s not possible.

I’ve learned that passion will almost always outperform natural skill. That can only get you so far. Nobody’s happy doing something they don’t care about, regardless of how good they are at it.

So surely it’s simple, and we can just do everything we want to because we want to? 

Pretty much actually.

Of course, there’s something else that stops you from doing it, and it's not necessarily what you’d expect. It’s not the lack of time in the day, and it doesn’t have to be a lack of resources. It’s fear of failure. 

Nobody wants to be bad at things, myself included. And this could be for a whole load of reasons. Most commonly, I’ve found that it’s because people find it embarrassing to be a beginner. But all the same, we forget to consider that there’s progression past “beginner”, past not knowing. 

I’ll use an example I had myself a few years ago. I wanted to learn to code. Naturally, I went online to look for resources and found myself scrolling through not just educational sites, but on YouTube, watching videos of people with years of experience, feeling like I could never reach their level. It’s pretty intimidating to start something new when you’re making comparisons between yourself and these experts, to be frank. 

So I had to learn to forget about those comparisons, and recognise that those people must’ve started from zero at some point too. As an absolute beginner, everything’s new, so it feels great to be making quick progress. I got through sequence, iteration and branching and it was so motivating to see where it was going. 

Eventually, the total beginner-ness wore off. That’s not to say I’m an expert programmer now, but I’m pretty happy with what I know. There’s quite a dip once you go from absolute beginner to the stage where you’re not quite a beginner but not necessarily good at it yet. It’s super easy to go back to that perfectionist state, and the need to do things well and eventually just leave it there.

But here’s a secret: you’re allowed to do that. If you don’t want to learn that skill you’ve already dedicated so much time to. Of course, you can push through that feeling. Just remember that those people you’re comparing yourself to have also been at your level to get to where they are now.

You are allowed to be just okay at things. Let yourself be mediocre. 

All the same, there is absolutely no harm in starting something new if you’ve lost interest in what you started. We learn things to keep ourselves entertained, and to make ourselves feel better and happier as people. There’s no point in pushing yourself to do something you’re not loving, and expecting the outcome to make you happy.

It’s not easy to just get rid of that fear of failure. Again, I’m no expert here, but here’s a few things I’ve been doing to ignore it:

• No More Comparison: You need to stop comparing yourself to other people. You can still make comparisons, but only against where you were a few months ago, or maybe so many years ago. I’m totally fine with not being great at things, because it’s better than I was last time I checked.
• Be Bored: Let yourself be bored, and learn to be okay with it. Every time I have nothing to do, I usually check my phone. There’s always something keeping my brain occupied. We all do it. So spend just 10 minutes every day, bored. No screens, no books, no music. No fuel for comparison.
• Learn to Love The Process: Make sure you like the process of doing something, not just the outcome. I wouldn’t have learned as much Python as I did if I didn’t enjoy the act of sitting at my laptop and learning it, rather than just the idea of knowing Python.
• Move On: If I’m not loving what I’m doing, I move on. I remember that I’m doing these things because I want to, not because I have to. Besides, the full phrase is Jack of all trades, master of none. Oftentimes, better than a master of one. 

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being mediocre at things. We as humans are so hung up on the idea of being great at things, that we forget to enjoy ourselves. It’s time to do that thing you’ve always wanted to have a go at, and remember to let yourself be mediocre!

Demi Wait is an Advanced Data Fellowship apprentice at Multiverse based in London, England, and is writing for The Apprentice Lens. Here's more about her:

"Hi, I'm Demi. I currently work as an Apprentice Data Scientist for Colt. Outside of work, I love writing of all sorts and am most likely found with a book in my hand. I find huge inspiration in all sorts of tech, real-world or fictional!"