When you look back at work you did a year ago and don’t cringe, you have not grown. This is one of the most important lessons I have ever learned so I want to share it in more detail here with you because cringing is really a compliment and a fantastic reminder to how far you have come.
I used to take my ability to learn fast for granted. I’ve always picked up new skills easily. With a few exceptions. One of my past limiting beliefs was that technology “is not for me”. I have now left that one lying behind in the dust because I love tech! I even label myself a techie these days. How did I get to this point? I embraced the cringe.
What we’re good at
When we focus on subjects or areas in our lives we’re good at, we barely even notice the cringe, especially if it’s a skill we consider a “hobby”. The stakes are low so why should it matter if my first paintings are totally weird? I just paint over them. And again. And just one more time.
That’s how learning works. We look at something we’ve created, are dissatisfied with it, so our brains find a “solution”, meaning a better way to do it. We practise a technique until we get the hang of it, or learn a new technique, expanding our skillset. In these cases, we barely notice the cringe because we are too busy figuring out the next step or next version. We only feel it because we are getting better at something. If we hadn’t improved, we wouldn’t even noticed.
What we want to be good at
If we have a limiting belief about a topic or an area, the cringe activates shame. Shame is an emotion we experience, when we think a lie about ourselves, like “I’m terrible at technology.” When we label ourselves, for example as artists or writers, these words become part of our identity and we take action easily. An artist creates and a writer writes. But when we feel ashamed, we’re activating a label about ourselves that stops us from taking action.
When I started to learn frontend development, I didn’t tell anyone about it. Part of me was convinced that tech was not for me and that I would probably fail. Luckily, I found an online course with Skillcrush. They introduced me to the new idea that tech is for everyone. Even better, I got to use my coding skills from day one.
So I plodded on with my course and created my first website. I kept on going and when I eventually re-visited that site, I cringed hard! Shame would have gotten the better of me, had I not been too busy fixing everything. And that’s when I truly understood that the more you cringe at past work, the more you have grown! I didn’t just notice a gazillion “mistakes” and “flaws”. I knew how to fix them.
Embrace the cringe
Cringing at past work is proof of how much your skills have improved. Cringing at your past self and how you used to act, is a testimony to how much you have grown. Lean into the cringe, especially with skills you never thought you could learn.
Once I relaxed and allowed myself to feel embarrassed about past work, I could focus on what really mattered: keep going. I reiterated, improved, and fixed. Sometimes I simply abandoned a project and moved on. It was just one more step on my journey.
These days, I am so comfortable with technology, that I started my own blog and created a course explaining algorithms. But the most important lesson I learned while I became a techie, will always be the power of embracing the cringe. Celebrate it with me because it’s proof of how much we have grown.