Experienced, Not Finished

“If you want to make progress, put up with being thought foolish and simpleminded about outward things. Don’t yearn to be regarded as any kind of expert. Even if others take you to be a person of some importance, doubt yourself.”

This quote from Epictetus is one of the passages that I highlighted as I read through Epictetus: The Complete Works, translated and edited by Robin Waterfield.

I’ve found a lot of clarity from reading the writings of Stoics, and the interpretations by individuals like Ryan Holiday. And these traits that are described appear across the board in the people that I usually find myself looking up to.

It’s not about being perfect, but it is about understanding human nature, weakness, and yourself, and working to not let impulse and ego take over the wheel.

But this quote popped out to me because it was very much in line with the idea of always being a student, and always pursuing a greater knowledge and ability than you may have had before.

Yes, it’s a little overly self-effacing for the reality of life. Isn’t that the truth with most philosophical writings?

But it stands out to me for a few reasons.

At this point, I've probably done my 10,000 hours of photography work. And yes, I’ve almost certainly done my 10,000 hours of video production.

That's the magic number said to "make someone an expert." But that's the rub.

No, I’m not an expert.

No, I’m not the best.

And when I’ve had people ask me to coach them or help them learn, I usually say that I don’t have a lot to teach, which is probably less true than I think it is.

Although I do believe that the best way to learn is to go out and take terrible pictures until they’re progressively less terrible. That’s true of photography, video, writing, and probably most of the things that are worth getting good at. You try something, it’s bad, you try it again, and eventually it becomes slightly less bad. Then you keep going.

That’s not a very romantic explanation of growth, but it’s probably the most accurate one.

I find myself sometimes being the loudest, most opinionated person in the room, especially when it comes to my work. But I also know that that is wrong.

So I try to stop, listen, and let others speak. I try to let people look at me like I don’t know what I’m doing, because in their words might be some guidance or a thought that I hadn’t considered yet. Or a moment that sparks an idea that elevates a project.

It’s a frustrating exercise in patience and humility, and I’ve been doing it most of my life. So when I saw this quote, it immediately resonated with me.

I don’t like being seen as unknowledgeable, or foolish, and my ego wins that battle too often.

So yes, I’m an expert by objective experience in my world, but I’m also not an expert. And as I grow older, I’m understanding more and more that most people aren’t actually experts in the complete sense of the word.

We’re all really just figuring this out as we go along.

As it’s said in a video I just edited, “We’re all students of the game.”

That’s the part that matters.

Even when people may see you as an expert, you should humble yourself and view yourself as a perpetual student, because there’s always something to learn. Always some way to grow. And if you make a mistake because you’re trying to grow, or the act of taking that oddball picture makes you look foolish to a passerby, you shouldn’t worry about their opinion, because you know that this is all part of an attempt to become better.

Or at least, I should know that.

I don’t want to be the person everyone seeks advice from, but I find myself in that position more frequently than I thought I would be. And sometimes it feels good to be looked upon that way.

That’s okay.

To be proud of people respecting you is human.

But you mustn’t make yourself bigger than you are in your own mind. You have to acknowledge that you are not as important as your role, your title, your experience, or your ability might imply that you are.

Because the danger of experience is that it can trick you into thinking you’re finished.

It can make you impatient with simple lessons.

It can make you roll your eyes at things you’ve heard before.

It can make you think, “I know all this stuff,” when the truth may be that you understand the concept, but haven’t fully applied the lesson.

That’s where I find myself now.

Professionally, personally, every day.

It’s a little weird in life to realize that you may have to stop what you’re doing and humble yourself to take on a new role. Taking courses in marketing, or reading branding content, or learning the business side of creative work can feel redundant. Like, “I know all this stuff,” or, “Why does he keep talking about this?” or, “Why is this sentiment repeated constantly?”

But I need to realize that I’m not an expert in everything.

And even in the things where I have real experience, there’s still room to learn, to evolve, and to grow my personal skillset.

That’s the tension.

You can have earned confidence and still need humility.

You can have done the work and still need to listen.

You can be good at something and still be unfinished.

It’s important to be humble. You don’t have to be as self-effacing as the Stoics, but you should always stop, and let others be the experts sometimes.

Learn from those around you, or you’ll never grow.

And you should never stop growing until you stop living in this world.