Hi Christian! Thankyou for posting this. It highlights that weird period between learning a skill, and applying a skill. It is not often highlighted, and it makes for TERRIBLE viewing, but that period is where you fall down alot. Nothing seems to work. You feel useless, like you’ve wasted your time. We need to rethink this time, and make it less a period of frustration, but one when you experiment, try your own things, trouble-shoot, and when in doubt, go back to things you have already learned and do them again.
The boring, non-glamorous truth is that a large part of any job is trouble-shooting, problem-solving, and the ability to pivot. You only get there by having a good mix of learned skills and adaptability. Take heart in knowing we have ALL been there. This is the training montage period, where you improve incrementally, but when you begin to build that muscle memory, that becomes the basis for new skills.
My advice is this: be kind to yourself. Be patient. Give yourself permission to suck at something, or say “ok that render is terrible”. I would suggest sharing your failures as often as your successes, as they can yield some surprising feedback from peers who might be able to spot areas where you might want to focus and improve. Know that taking criticism and taking suggestions on board is also a skill that must be learned alongside creating.
