You Don't Know What You Don't Know, And That's Alright

Early in my career, I often found myself overwhelmed when I did not have the correct answers or understood what was going on. I chalk this up to having a limited amount of real-world experience in all areas surrounding full-stack development.

Nowadays, I have the experience, yet I still do not have all the answers, and I’m quite alright with that. I recognize that even the experts in the field of programming do not have all the answers, but if a younger me heard that, I would not have believed it.

We need to understand that programming is continuously evolving. There will always be new things to learn. If we do not recognize that, we will fall behind and miss out on growth opportunities.

Embrace these unknowns. There’s so much to learn. You’re not going to know everything, but you are always capable of learning when it requires you to.

I do not know… but I will figure it out

In college, Scott Cook, the co-founder of Intuit, spoke to my entrepreneurship class. During his lecture, he could not stress enough how important it is to say, “I do not know…but I will figure it out”.

This phrase should be a mentality.

When encountering unfamiliar tasks, questions, or anything else life throws us, we should tell ourselves that we’ll figure out whatever issues lay ahead of us.

Every problem has a solution

As my father always told me, “Every problem has a solution”. Don’t stop looking until you found some form of a solution. It not only helps your reputation in delivering results and being reliable, but you learn so much more when you find answers.

The next time you encounter a situation you do not understand, say these words to yourself. It’s amazing what a little ambition can do.

I do not know, but I will figure it out, because every problem has a solution.