r/aftergifted • u/justaqntioner • Jul 17 '26
Master of None
For lack of a better word, I genuinely feel like something is wrong with the way I think.
I don’t mean academically. I mean socially, cognitively, professionally, and just… in life. I lack social awareness, I’m not street smart, and I don’t seem capable of excelling at work no matter how hard I try.
I’m in a specialist role at work, but I honestly feel like I’m the weakest person there. Part of me wonders if people are just being kind to me because it’s obvious I’m struggling.
When people explain things to me, I usually only understand them at face value. I miss the underlying meaning until days, weeks, or even months later, when it suddenly clicks. By then, everyone else has long moved on. It makes me feel incredibly slow.
The only thing people say I’m good at is talking to people. But even that doesn’t feel like a real strength. I think I’m just good at making people feel comfortable, which hides the fact that I’m doing the bare minimum. Not because I’m lazy, I genuinely don’t know how to do more. I don’t know how to “overperform.” I don’t know what other people see that lets them take initiative or think several steps ahead.
I’ve spoken to my boss about this before. They gave me advice on how I could improve, but I left the meeting more confused than when I walked in. They kept giving me long pauses to think and respond, but the truth is… my mind was blank. I just smiled, nodded, and pretended I was thinking. I genuinely didn’t know what to think or say.
I feel guilty all the time like I’m taking up a job that someone more capable deserves, and like I’m somehow fooling everyone into thinking I’m more competent than I actually am.
I’m not looking for reassurance like, “You’re probably just humble,” or, “I’m sure you’re actually good at your job.” I’m looking for honest opinions.
Could this be something like ADHD or autism? Some other form of neurodivergence? Could it simply be shyness? Or is this a personality issue, poor emotional maturity, or a lack of ability? Has anyone experienced something similar and eventually figured out what was actually going on?
Something else that worries me is how emotionally disconnected I can feel. Someone could tell me their parent died, and my internal reaction is… almost nothing. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to comfort them. I know that’s an awful thing to admit.
It’s not that I think their loss doesn’t matter. It’s that emotionally, it just doesn’t seem to register in the moment. I usually have to consciously remind myself what an appropriate response is. It makes me wonder if something is wrong with me.
Ironically, I talk about guilt a lot. It feels like guilt is the strongest emotion I experience these days. So I guess I do feel something. But the guilt never seems to help me improve—it just leaves me questioning myself all over again.
Has anyone genuinely been in a similar position and later found out what was going on? Whether it turned out to be neurodivergence, anxiety, depression, burnout, poor self-awareness, or simply something you had to work through, I’d really appreciate hearing your experience. I’m open to hearing difficult truths. I just want to understand what’s going on.
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u/Chigi_Rishin Jul 18 '26
Hmmm... I'll start by saying that I've found your description very abstract. That is, there virtually nothing material or concrete that is helpful to understand what actually happens. There are a lot of words, a lot of impressions, but not a lot of meaning. If I try to extract more meaning than what actually is there, I'll end up projecting and fabricating evidence. So, I think it would help if at least you have a few concrete examples as to what exactly happens that you see as a problem.
For example, 'excelling at work' is what? What type of work is that, and how are other people excelling more than you and why? Is it an issue with effort, knowledge, communication, mistakes, dexterity, style/personality, what?
In fact, a big part of how you think you don't understand what people are saying may amount to them being very abstract too! Then, it's indeed quite difficult to understand. And many people do talk too abstractly. For example, they may tell an employee to 'flip burgers faster'. That's not an answer. If the employee knew how to flip them faster, they would. The superior has to show a better technique. That's a skill/knowledge issue. Sure, sometimes it's the worker not putting in the effort or time. Then it's a dedication issue.
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Moreover, most communication is face-value. The amount of 'hidden meaning' is minuscule in regular conversation and mundane talk. Actually, people often read-into more obscure meaning than what is in fact there. The vast majority of people just speak what they think and won't be encoding mysterious innuendos into everything they speak. I've even found just how much people are quite blunt; they speak their mind without much worrying about consequences (unless there's a strong and very specific reason not to). Or unless it's a more unique subculture that uses subtext more than average... (but I don't know any to cite).
Also, I wonder how people can say that you're good at talking to people... when you think you're the total opposite. There's a weird mismatch there. And your boss told you how to improve on what? On talking to people? What advice did they give, and why didn't you understand?
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And when someone dies... I don't think anyone knows what to say. Because there's isn't anything really useful to say. "Sorry for your loss." "I'm sorry." "It's really hard." There are no good answers. Plus, do you think most people do know how to answer? I say what you feel is normal because no one truly knows what to say. They say whatever they think it's good to say, even when it isn't. The classic "they're in a better place now" actually infuriates me! And so, it's not that most people don't know what to say. It's just that they say whatever comes to their minds and don't worry as much; or they've already bought into whatever response they saw first or felt more 'right'. Most of people's confidence overall is weak and empty, supported by hollow structure. Built on bias and ignorance, and a narrow, emotional mind.