Last November, I was at the Ake Festival, and I met a lady who is a writer. I don’t remember her name now, but I recall her walking towards me and saying, “Hi Oriade, I know you!” We got talking and she mentioned that she’s one of the club members and also a writer. She’s a medical student (nursing, I think) and publishes her writings on Medium. I asked to read a few then she said she hasn’t written in a while because she’s not a really good writer. Her words got me thinking so we had a little chat there about her writing and writing, generally, before something else, probably food or Mmesoma, whisked me away.
There are a few things I want to share, inspired by my conversation with her that day. Here’s the first one: you are not supposed to know something when you just start.
I don’t know who told us that we need to be great to start. We really don’t. This is understood in the corporate world, to an extent. That’s why when you finish school and apply for regular internships, it is expected that you won’t know it all. In fact, the barrier of entry is so low you can get an internship by just showing interest, showing a track record of such interest and demonstrating a willingness to learn. In my time as the community manager in charge of internships at a fintech company in Lagos, I never cared about expertise. In fact, I often looked away from people who had all the big titles on their resume and focused on the ones with almost nothing but a track record of learning and curiosity. It’s an internship for a reason, not a full-time job. Even sometimes, entry-level roles are considered learning grounds, not a place to expect astounding excellence.
This takes me to my point: when you are starting out on something new, you’re not supposed to be good at it. That’s why you’re a beginner. Why should you be good at it if you’re a beginner?
If you’ve ever worked in a place where this is understood, you’ll realise that what matters is really the ability to learn fast and not make the same mistake multiple times. If you’ve worked in a less forgiving environment, you’ll notice how difficult it is to learn when you’re expected to know it all, when effort is not appreciated, and the only thing that matters is the final result.
When you’re starting out on something new and you realise you’re not good at it, remind yourself that that’s the way it should be. You’re just starting anyway, so why should you be good at it?
The difference between a beginner and a professional is often a function of experience gained over time. If someone starts writing three months ago and they meet someone who has been writing for three decades, the difference between both is time and the experience gained over that period.
A professional has:
Done what you are just starting more times than you have. If it’s writing, they’ve written more times than you have.
Done that same thing for a longer period of time. If it’s writing, they’ve written for a longer period of time. This means they’ve done it when it was easy, when it was hard, when there was a pandemic, when there was no pandemic. You’ve only done it during the Harmattan.
Made more mistakes than you have.
Taken the time to figure out what works for them, what inspires them and how they can get great work done. As a beginner, you’ve not learned all of these.
When you’re starting out with writing, content creation, product design, photography, anything really; you don’t have to be good to start. You only have to have a solid interest and a willingness to learn. And then you start. You won’t be a great storyteller in one year. It will take years of writing, perfecting your skills, and learning your own voice. And that’s okay. You’re a beginner, which means you’re not supposed to be good at it yet. You are expected to be on the right track, learning, and experimenting. But you’re not supposed to be a master.
So the next time you are asked why you stopped writing or why you abandoned your YouTube channel after six months or why you stopped posting on LinkedIn after five posts or why you stopped singing; don’t say “I just didn’t know how to do it.” Don’t say, “I’m not good at it.” if you’ve only done it for a short period of time, which is the period during which you are not supposed to be good at it. You’re simply supposed to be learning how to be good at it.
If you’re a beginner, go easy on yourself. You’re just learning, and that’s okay. If you need extra motivation, talk to a professional and ask them how many years it took them to be where they are today; you’d be surprised.
You're not good at it, and you don't have to be, yet. You’re just a beginner.
Cheers to being a newbie!
PS: I wrote this as a personal motivation to myself. This year, I’m starting out new things that I’ve never done before and it sucks to not be good at something immediately, especially when you’re good at other things. But then I am reminding myself that I’m still a newbie really and that’s totally okay.
If you’re just starting out something new and you’re scared of “not being good”, let me know how it’s going. You can always reply to this.
Share this post to someone who is starting something new this year,
No essay this week guys. Instead, I’m recommending this YouTube video I’ve been reading over and over again! I think you should watch it and tell me what you think in the comments or my mail.
Thanks to Mmesoma Anaka, Emmanuel Faith and Nmabuobi Oba for reading drafts of this. Love you all always.
Phew! This is the second newsletter I'm reading about how it's okay to not be great at something you're new to. Universe, is that you? 👀
This was very beautiful to read, thank you for inspiring me with more courage to keep at it and keep going. And your writing? >>>>>> It's truly very exceptional 🙌🏾
Thank you so much for sharing!
Trying new things is always scary for me, because “what if I don’t get it right”
I’m learning to leave my shell, do things, make mistakes, learn from them.
Btw, you’re such a beautiful writer (I’ve probably said this 1043 times). Your writings blow me awayyyy. I’m a big fan🥹❤️