Early in my career, I took a lot of pride in this adage: “Copywriters have to be good at writing every type of thing in every type of voice.”

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I loved how it cast my craft in such a flattering light. It stoked my ambition.

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Of course, it didn’t take long for me to run into things I was not good at writing. And that made me feel like a failure.

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I used to turn that feeling into fuel to get better at whatever I was struggling with. And I built good skills that way.

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What also happened was that I continually saddled myself with impossible expectations. Because not even the fuel of ambition and the fear of failure could make me good at writing everything.

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Today, I don’t ask myself or any writer on our team to be good at writing everything in every voice. Instead, I try to remain mindful of what I’m really good at and where I want to grow. And what the writers on our team are really good at and where they want to grow.

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I try to match projects to skills and areas of desired growth. On the occasions a potential project doesn’t fit, we try to find someone to help us. Or connect our client to a studio that fits the project better.

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I don’t think that a copywriter, or anyone, has to be good at everything. I don’t think it’s possible.

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Instead, I think we need to understand our own strengths, have those strengths recognized and valued by leaders, and be allowed access to opportunities to succeed.