Navigating Your Career Towards Your Own Definition of Success
Some tips and mindset to making hard decisions with confidence.
I was recently faced with a hard decision — leaving a perfectly great workplace for the unknown. In this post I’ll share some tips and mindset that helped me make that decision with confidence.
Focus on What Matters
During my time at Planck, I had a clear idea of how I wanted to improve as a software developer and which environment will allow that growth — I wanted to work with more experienced people who are as excited as me to solve problems using code and logical thinking, and mostly, I wanted to gain more experience with complex architecture.
During the last few months I realized my focus has changed. I still want to become more professional and solve hard problems and am still interested in software architecture, but the problems I want to focus on changed.
The first step to focusing on what really matters is understanding the motivation. I realized that while I was learning so much and working with highly professional people (and friends), I wasn’t living my dream. I found myself inspired by people[1] around me that focused on what mattered most to them and their sparkle ignited something in me, as well.
So, what matters? Making a difference in the world is what drives me forwards. I’m already dedicating a good portion of my time to support women in tech, which I LOVE doing, but I realized I want and can dedicate more time to things I found motivate me, namely cognitive and mental health and improving women’s health. I already read and talk about those issues with others and absolutely love learning more about those topics, so why not do that full time?
Take Control
Understanding what matters to you isn’t enough. We are grown people with responsibilities, expectations, fears and so much more, and we sometimes don’t feel confident enough to take a leap of fate.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t prepare the ground for a change, that is, reduce the unknowns and increase the odds we will actually go through with it.
Consider the reasons you aren’t willing to make a change yet. I find that asking questions helps:
- Are your responsibilities more flexible than they currently seem? Could you delegate or ask for help? Which balls can you drop without risking what matters?
- Are you living up to your expectations or those of others? Are they serving you well? Can they be refined?
- What’s the worst that could happen and what impact would it have on you? What would you do if you weren’t afraid? What can you learn from failing and how will it serve your future self?
Mainly, what holds you back and how can you resolve it?
I made a pact with myself — I don’t want to be led by fear. When I identify that I’m avoiding a decision due to fear, I stop to think of the worst case scenario, which for me is to be led by chance rather than creating my chances. I tap into that rebellious side we all have and push myself to get out of my comfort zone, because I know that on the other side I’ll be grateful for choosing authentically.
Take Your Time
All that said, I find that taking time to make decisions helps me avoid FOMO and regret being trigger-happy. It is okay to take the time to consider your options. Gather the evidences that help you gain confidence in your decision — consult with others, contemplate the losses and gains, visualize your world post the change — whatever works for you. Remember that caution is embedded in your brain for a good reason.
I suggest dedicating time in your calendar and documenting your evidences. For example, if you are unsure how you feel about it, mark the days on your calender where you lean towards the odd thought of making a change. Then go back and look at the evidence — are you constantly thinking it is time to make that change?
How Will You Know You Are Ready?
That’s the tricky part. You might not know when you are ready, unfortunately, we don’t have a built-in function that tells us when it is time to go back on the road.
I suggest making the leap when you are okay with the losses that may come. When you feel it is worth it and you would regret not taking the leap or when you have a backup plan in case you fail.
Worst case, you learned a valuable lesson that will serve you in the future, hopefully towards whatever it is you want to achieve.
I hope you found this post helpful. If so, I’d love to know! Feel free to reach out to me here or on social media.
Thank you for reading.
[1] I highly recommended listening to Dalya Gartzman’s podcast — הולכת בדרכי [Hebrew] and as a resource for inspiration.
