What About Me 68°

I have always tried to surround myself with people smarter than me.

It's something I genuinely believe in: if you're the most talented person in the room, you're probably in the wrong room. And looking around at my friends, I am constantly in awe. I have friends who are exceptional musicians, brilliant doctors, gifted writers, developers who built things from nothing. And I love that. I chose that.

• But if I'm honest — and this newsletter has taught me to be — there was always a quiet side effect to it. And a lot of times that side effect was feeling less. "You are the fun one, Micael." "You're just the pretty, utterly handsome one, Micael." But not the talented one. Everyone has their thing, and for a long time, I wasn't sure what mine was.

Then I started this newsletter.

I didn't launch it thinking it would change how I see myself. I launched it because I had things to say and a vague, stubborn feeling that someone out there might want to read them. But somewhere along the way, things began to shift.

• There's a version of loving films that most people have — you watch them, you feel something, you move on. And then there's the version where you start to understand why a scene works, what the director was thinking, how the light was used, what that film was responding to in its cultural moment. The feeling is similar. The depth is completely different.

Hobbies, real ones, do that. They take something you enjoy and, through repetition and curiosity, turn it into something you know. And knowing something — truly knowing it — builds a kind of confidence that no one can take from you, because it isn't based on comparison. It's based on craft.

Can you think of something you do because you love doing it? Something that interests you, captures your attention, and makes you lose track of time? If nothing comes to mind, you've got some homework to do: go on a hobby hunt.

• Do you like fashion? Try to understand the basics of patternmaking, cutting, sewing, patterns, aesthetics, and styles. Copying store windows or an influencer's look is something anyone can do — but having an authentic style full of personality is another story.

• Do you like wine? Learn to decipher aromas and flavours, understand the role of terroir. It's not hard to like wine, but it takes time for a sommelier to refine their palate.

• Do you like sports? Understand the rules of different games, get to know the all-time greats across various disciplines, research what makes up an athlete's routine and why only one in a million manages to stand out.

• Do you like visiting art galleries? Study art history. Learn how to join a conversation about it and critique a work based on the zeitgeist, the artist's background, and the techniques used. Beauty is beautiful to most — but understanding why it's beautiful is not.

Writing this newsletter has done that for me. It has made me a sharper writer, a more curious reader. It has given me a relationship with language and tone of voice that feels like mine. It has also, ploddingly and without fanfare, given me something to point to when that little voice shows up in my head saying I am not good enough.

If you've been waiting to start something — a newsletter, a course, an instrument, a language, a craft — I want to gently tell you: the confidence doesn't come before the practice. It comes from it. You don't wait until you feel ready. You become ready by going.

Then one day, without quite noticing, you'll realise you've become someone who knows how to do something — and that person is a little harder to shake.

With love,

Micael.