The Writing and Photography Blog of Kevin J Sabo

I’m a little frustrated.

Recently, I heard a quote that says something along the lines of “An amateur will practice until they get it right while an expert will practice until they can’t get it wrong.”

After the last week, I find myself feeling like an amateur. I had a couple of different stories I was working on for work it seemed like every time I touched them there was always more to correct. Fortunately, neither was life or death and I ultimately got the right information presented, but as someone who prides themself on getting it right more often than they get it wrong, it was a frustrating experience.

I know exactly where I went wrong, too. I let myself get too piled up, trying to do too many things too fast.

When I rush, mistakes happen. Fortunately, writing for the paper is not the life and death world that I once dealt with working on the ambulance, but it is annoying nonetheless.

So, what can I do about it?

Well, slow down. I can fall back on one of the tenets I learned from my reading on the Navy SEALs: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”

I know I am good at my job. I know that I kick my own ass over these errors more than anyone else does. I also know that errors happen, and are nothing that can’t be fixed.

In hindsight, I know that I am far from being an amateur in my new career. I can’t believe that I’ve been full-time, and rocking it, for over two years. Time flies. Still, I’m also no expert.

A popular theory posits that someone can be deemed an expert in their given field when they hit 10,000 hours; I still have a ways to go to reach that milestone. However, thanks to supportive management and colleagues, I’ve been able to work on continuing education opportunities in addition to the coursework I am doing for university.

The continuing education is allowing me to learn, and have a solid grasp, of the Canadian Press style for newspaper writing and it has put me in a good position with work.

As far as my university course goes, I’m currently in the end stages of Psychology as a Natural Science, course that is going to be the death of me. It has proven to be a challenge. With how busy work has gotten, I ended up extending it until the end of January, just to give me some solid time to keep working through it and review before I write the final.

Once this course is done, I am considering taking a – brief – break from my university courses as I pursue another certification, which could help me with work, and just give myself a change of pace. The other certification is roughly six weeks, also taken online. That is all I’m going to say about it for the time being, as I haven’t entirely decided if I’m going to do it yet, and I need to get through my current area of study.

Finally, just because I didn’t want to get bored, I have been going through classes learning the ins and outs of Adobe Illustrator through a website I have a membership on. That class is eight one-hour sessions, and I am about halfway through and learning a lot.

Mentally, aside from the aforementioned frustration, I don’t think I have ever felt stronger. It is safe to say that I have come through the mood swing of earlier this fall in good stead. I have found a good rhythm with work and am coping with all of my various responsibilities fairly well.

Physically… I wish my brain and body would get on the same page. I have succeeded in aggravating both of my shoulders, which is making life a challenge. It’s bad enough I spoke to my doctor about it and he is sending me for physio, which I start this week.

Still, looking at everything overall, I am grateful. I’m grateful for how far I have come, and how far I have yet to go.

Kevin