Nobody Knows What They're Doing

Here's a secret nobody tells you when you're young. Nobody knows what they're doing. Not really.

We grow up thinking the adults have it figured out. They seem so confident. So sure of themselves. They have jobs and mortgages and plans. They make decisions like they know exactly what's going to happen next.

Then you become an adult. And you realize it's all bullshit.
Everyone is just making it up as they go. Some are better at hiding it than others. But nobody has a master plan. Nobody has all the answers. We're all just doing the best we can with what we've got and hoping it works out.

I spent over 20 plus years in the Marines. You'd think if anyone had it figured out, it would be the military. Structure. Hierarchy. Clear orders. Everything laid out. Nope.

I watched officers make decisions they weren't sure about. I watched senior enlisted cover uncertainty with confidence. I did it myself. You project certainty because that's what the job requires. But behind that? Doubt. Questions. Hoping you made the right call.

The ones who scared me were the ones who actually believed they had all the answers. Those were the dangerous ones.

It's no different on the outside. Bosses pretending they know where the company is headed. Financial advisors guessing like the rest of us. Doctors making their best educated guesses. Politicians definitely not knowing what they're doing. Everyone's winging it.

The guy in the nice suit with the corner office? He's Googling the same questions you are. The couple with the perfect family photos on social media? They're fighting about money and wondering if they're screwing up their kids.
Nobody has it figured out.

Once you accept that, it's actually kind of freeing. You stop comparing yourself to some imaginary standard. You stop thinking everyone else has the playbook and you missed the handout. You realize we're all stumbling forward in the dark, bumping into walls, adjusting course.

That's just life.

Thanks for reading,
Joe

_{Notes:
-All content is mine unless otherwise annotated.
-Images are my own unless otherwise noted.
-Photos edited using Linux photo editor and drawing and/or iPhone SE.
-Page Dividers from The Terminal Discord.}