Collaborating with someone better than you is humbling. Do it anyway. You’ll level up from the inside.

Being the least skilled person in the room is uncomfortable and extremely efficient. You pick up habits nobody teaches directly, the way they set up, what they throw away, how fast they decide, and that absorption happens whether you plan it or not. Protecting your pride by staying among people at your level keeps the ceiling where it is. The discomfort is the fee.

Ask one person whose work is clearly ahead of yours to make something small together. Offer to do the unglamorous part. Pay attention less to their advice than to what they actually do with their hands.