The Marketplace is under renovation. Thank you for your patience.
		Behind The Firm List Blog Measuring Relativity Do you ever find yourself going into some situation having some sort of expectation that isn't based upon anything conscious, but just on some reality of who you are your experiences? For example, I'm a fairly tall guy (6'4") and as a general rule, I probably assume people that I have never met in person are taller than they actually end up being. Whether it's a celebrity I've seen on TV or the big screen, or just an email friend that I finally meet in person, I expect them to be taller. It's not one of those things where it even really is noticed or shocks you when they are not, but you do sometimes notice that yes, they are shorter than I expected. Tonight I went to a Web Design Meetup (my second) and once again I ran up against the fact that there were people of all types of backgrounds and professional experience. That's good, I enjoyed myself. But on the ride home, I was thinking about it. I guess I expected the people to be more like myself. I expected them to have had nearly 10 years of web design experience under their belts, etc. Which made me step back even further and realize that sometimes, when things get into a funk, part of the problem I have is that when I measure my achievements and abilities, I'm not really measuring myself against the market of web professionals around me, but I'm measuring myself against my mental image of everyone having 10 or so years of experience... I'm setting higher standards to compare myself with... much harder to see what I've done as anything out of the ordinary or newsworthy. But perhaps it is. I don't mean any of this as negative. Just because you haven't been doing this as long as I have or built as many sites as I have doesn't mean you're not as talented as me, etc. You might just be. And I think it speaks well of me that I assume people are more experienced then perhaps they end up being. Isn't that better than assuming everyone else doesn't know what they are doing? I know people who see things that way. Anyways, just some random reflections of someone who's up too late again. posted by Matte Elsbernd on August 12, 2004 All Entries July 23, 2008 July 18, 2008 July 17, 2008 February 13, 2008 November 25, 2007 November 18, 2007 August 4, 2007 February 14, 2007 January 5, 2007 January 4, 2007 January 1, 2007 December 1, 2006 October 25, 2006 October 15, 2006 September 19, 2006 September 9, 2006 July 30, 2006 June 18, 2006 June 17, 2006 May 13, 2006 April 19, 2006 March 14, 2006 January 2, 2006 January 1, 2006 October 10, 2005 September 21, 2005 August 14, 2005 August 12, 2005 July 12, 2005 May 24, 2005 April 1, 2005 March 24, 2005 March 18, 2005 March 8, 2005 March 6, 2005 March 2, 2005 March 1, 2005 February 28, 2005 January 1, 2005 December 31, 2004 November 13, 2004 October 15, 2004 October 13, 2004 October 12, 2004 October 5, 2004 October 3, 2004 September 27, 2004 September 9, 2004 September 3, 2004 August 31, 2004 August 12, 2004 August 11, 2004 August 9, 2004 August 8, 2004 August 5, 2004 August 3, 2004 July 21, 2004 July 16, 2004 June 30, 2004 May 24, 2004 May 17, 2004 May 16, 2004 May 13, 2004 May 8, 2004 May 6, 2004 April 27, 2004 April 25, 2004 April 24, 2004 April 1, 2004 March 27, 2004 March 26, 2004 March 19, 2004 March 18, 2004 March 15, 2004 March 8, 2004 February 29, 2004 February 3, 2004 February 2, 2004 January 28, 2004 January 9, 2004 January 8, 2004 January 1, 2004 December 31, 2003 December 29, 2003 December 28, 2003 December 5, 2003 December 3, 2003 December 2, 2003 December 1, 2003 November 25, 2003 November 13, 2003 November 12, 2003 November 4, 2003 September 18, 2003 September 2, 2003 August 28, 2003 July 9, 2003 July 2, 2003 July 1, 2003 June 26, 2003 June 2, 2003 June 1, 2003 May 9, 2003 May 8, 2003 May 1, 2003 April 29, 2003 April 28, 2003 April 8, 2003 March 28, 2003 March 3, 2003 February 28, 2003 February 24, 2003 February 13, 2003 January 1, 2003 December 31, 2002 December 29, 2002 November 8, 2002 September 4, 2002 August 19, 2002 August 15, 2002 July 29, 2002 July 28, 2002 July 10, 2002 June 26, 2002 June 16, 2002 June 1, 2002 May 31, 2002 May 26, 2002 May 24, 2002 May 22, 2002 May 20, 2002 May 19, 2002 May 18, 2002 May 17, 2002 May 16, 2002 May 11, 2002 May 2, 2002 April 25, 2002 April 12, 2002 April 10, 2002 March 25, 2002 February 16, 2002 January 16, 2002 January 15, 2002 January 14, 2002 December 30, 2001 November 16, 2001 November 9, 2001 November 2, 2001 November 1, 2001 October 12, 2001 October 11, 2001 October 3, 2001 September 28, 2001 September 17, 2001 September 11, 2001 September 7, 2001 August 23, 2001 August 20, 2001 August 16, 2001 August 12, 2001 August 8, 2001 August 6, 2001 August 4, 2001 July 28, 2001 July 27, 2001 July 26, 2001 July 7, 2001 July 3, 2001 July 2, 2001 July 1, 2001 June 28, 2001 June 21, 2001 June 20, 2001 June 19, 2001 June 17, 2001 June 12, 2001 June 11, 2001 June 6, 2001 June 3, 2001 May 28, 2001 May 27, 2001 May 26, 2001 May 25, 2001 May 17, 2001 May 14, 2001 May 9, 2001 May 7, 2001 May 6, 2001 May 2, 2001 April 23, 2001 April 22, 2001 April 20, 2001 April 19, 2001 April 16, 2001 April 15, 2001 April 8, 2001 March 24, 2001 March 19, 2001 March 18, 2001 March 17, 2001 March 6, 2001 March 2, 2001 February 23, 2001 February 22, 2001 February 21, 2001 February 17, 2001 February 15, 2001 February 11, 2001 December 7, 2000 December 6, 2000 December 5, 2000