I’m new to this game. Not to drinking – I’ve been doing that for years – but to writing about drinking, finding new ideas about drinking, learning about our idiosyncrasies towards the beers we drink, the places we drink in and the breweries we favour. It’s still interesting to me. Exciting, even. I’ve been told that will wane. So far, so good.
Being new means you find lots of fresh opportunities. All that energy, all those ideas. No major enemies yet. Happy to contact anyone, go anywhere, try anything. Super jazzed to be here, sharing this space with people you’ve learned to look up to. If you use this window right, there’s plenty of work out there for you. I know. I’m in that window currently, forcing myself to not just step outside of my comfort zone but basejump from its precarious little platform high above the scary jungle of industry/human interaction.
I went full-time freelance in March, after years of working in an office as a content marketer – one those people Bill Hicks told to kill themselves. It took me two and a half years to be brave enough to hand in my notice and make the jump. Incidentally, that jump ended up feeling more like a tentative step down the front step of my house in the dark. Not actually that bad. I felt a bit silly to have made such a fuss about it. Turns out I’d been prepping internally for it for ages.
That didn’t make it any less terrifying to sit down on my first day at the kitchen table and think, “Everything I do now is my own fault.”
When I was asked if I’d like to judge at the World Beer Awards this year, there was an element of “oh what have I done now” as I read the email. If you’ve ever experienced imposter syndrome, you’ll understand. Somehow, I’d successfully convinced some beer industry bigdogs that I knew something about beer. How did that happen?
Well, I’ll tell you.
- I do actually know some things about beer.
- I’ve worked really hard to put myself in the right places to find opportunities like this.
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| Travelling to London is actually Quite A Big Deal to rural northerners. |
I'm sure you deserve to be where you are. Don't let self-doubt hold you back. Everyone – even the seemingly most self-confident – are scared little children deep inside. I know I am.
Well I like reading your thoughts and opinions, so that's one (non-paying) punter ;-).
Thanks so much for reading Ron – I'm a big fan of your work so it means a lot that you've commented! I think getting to know more and more people in industry has shown me that almost everyone gets these fears at one time or another. It's reassuring to know I'm not the only one.
Thanks for always being so supportive Hugh!