on feeling behind in your career
you’re not alone
With all this Config hype last week, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. So much to learn, so much to do, and so many brilliant people building amazing things out there.
I feel like it’s very easy to feel left behind in your career. Or feel like you are not moving fast enough.
Just scroll through LinkedIn and you will see everyone getting promoted or starting a new job or being the new thought leader.
I have been there, and I do feel like that from time to time.
Here are some perspectives that help me reframe this convo in my head.
🐎 not everyone has the same starting points
Career is not a live cohort course — with the same starting point and a certificate of completion.
We all started in very different circumstances — right from where we were born, access to education/ network, financial responsibilities, support from family, health, etc.
I find it quite useless to compare where you are right at this moment vs others.
Look for the “career delta” instead.
How far did you come from your starting point?
How you made your way through hurdles. How you took some good decisions and some risky ones. How you could have stopped or settled at certain points but you kept going. The drive, the relentlessness. And that’s always made me feel proud of myself.
🗺 trust the non-linearity
It’s easy in schools and colleges — there is one single path for the whole lot of us. We know what to expect next year.
Careers are different. It’s often a long-winded road of trying out different jobs and finding what works for you.
It seems like some people found the easiest way to the top, or are ahead of you.
But it’s not a single path, and you might even be climbing the same mountain. You never know what is waiting for you at the next turn.
I have this quote in my notes that I love. “Life is seasonal and sorrowful and triumphant and lurid, and still so beautiful because of its non-linearity.”
Keep reminding yourself to enjoy the chaos/ the predictable unpredictability. Instead of being anxious, be curious and hopeful. It will all work out.
🏆 consistency outplays talent and luck
Self-explanatory.
A firm believer that you gotta keep going. Even if it’s 0.1% better every day.
It’s really easy to attribute other people’s success to a fluke of luck or call someone an overnight success.
Every overnight success has been years in the making if you look closely. They did all the non-sexy, non-visible work for years. So if you ever feel behind, remind yourself to at least keep moving.
🌳 slow down to move faster
Feeling unsettled, comparative, or not confident in your path is also a signal of not being internally aligned with your goals. Envy is a signal of what you desire.
The solution to feeling behind is not to move faster and anxiously take reactive decisions. This only heightens the feeling of being behind.
Think about your own journey. What does success looks likes to YOU. What are you optimizing for. Where do you wanna be in a few years. and what is it that you are not doing that you should be doing.
Then make meaningful, intentional tweaks to your career path.
Slow down to move faster.
You’ve got this. x
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