Being underestimated is annoying. It’s also the only time people aren’t watching closely.

Low expectations are irritating, and they come with one real advantage: nobody is watching closely. You get to be bad at the start, change your method, fail in private and improve with no audience taking notes. People who are expected to be excellent lose that cover immediately and have to perform while they learn.

Use the quiet while you have it. Take the thing you want to be good at and put in the unglamorous months now, before anybody is paying attention. Being underestimated has an expiry date, and it is working in your favour.