Embrace Discomfort

There is something equally thrilling and daunting about being outside of your comfort zone.

On the one hand, you have the allure of new experiences, new information and potential for personal growth. On the other, there is often an overwhelming fear of being an imposter, of coming unstuck and floating adrift without a paddle.. on barely a raft to keep you above water. You want to move forward, but you don't want to spoil what you have right now.

Back in November of last year, I began working on an AI-powered visualisation tool for the Architectural Lighting Industry. As a lighting designer myself for over 20 years, and having experimented and tested Gen AI tools for the past 5, I wanted to try and bring these two worlds together in a meaningful, intuitive and approachable way.

However, I'm not a developer. I can't write code (although I am getting better at understanding it), and I'm figuring things out as I go along... initially with the assist of Google's AI Studio, and now with Open AI's CODEX.

That being said.. the web app garnered notable attention within the lighting industry, with over a hundred willing beta testers, a small handful of long-term users and earlier this year it even came 2nd in a lighting awards tech category.

And at each of those points, part of me was petrified.

• Petrified of being seen as "all knowing" on the subject
• Petrified of not being able to fix the app if it failed
• Petrified of not being able to finish what I'd started

Some people call it imposter syndrome. Others call it self doubt.

Its a common affliction, but to some it can be quite debilitating and stop people from even embarking on a chanced journey of their own, no matter how much promise their idea may hold.

In truth, I am nowhere near the end of my journey. But I convinced myself to embark upon it, and the lessons I have already learnt, the support I have received and the interest it has garnered has been rewarding in its own right.

There have been a number of times that I hit a roadblock, and could have called it a day, putting it down to inexperience or lack of ability. It was quite humbling, and reminded me of my limitations. But instead I convinced myself again that there "must be another way". So instead, I pivoted. I altered the course and tried another route.

Right now, the tool is back in development, as I try to reverse engineer it into a harness that can be run locally. But progress is gradually being made, and its all taking shape. I have a long way to go with this local version, but there is much promise. I already have the basics working.

Without taking that initial leap, to take the risk and challenge myself to try, the idea would never have materialised.

Take risks. It's worth the lessons you'll learn.