đź“Ś 10 Things to Unlearn to Truly Grow in Your Career
I bookmarked this Fairygodboss article weeks ago, and coming back to it, I was struck by how clearly it speaks to the quieter, internal work of growth, the mindset shifts that don’t always get airtime but make all the difference.
It surfaces beliefs we often absorb without realizing: that we have to earn our seat at the table by being perfect, or that being early-career means being silent. One point in particular really stuck: learning to take up space and speak openly about what you want.
đź”— Read: 10 Things to Unlearn to Truly Grow in Your Career
Reflections
This idea echoes something I’ve been thinking and writing about a lot lately: what it means to learn out loud. When we share our process, our questions, and even our uncertainty, we make it easier to move forward, and we signal to others that growth is a shared, ongoing practice.
It’s something I noticed in The Best Programmers I Know, too. The programmers and data analysts I admire most aren’t the ones who know everything, they’re the ones who keep learning in public, write things down, and create scaffolding for others. That’s the kind of professional I want to be.
Unlearning perfectionism, self-effacement, and fear of being “too much” has changed how I show up in 1:1s, feedback sessions, peer reviews, and writing documentation. It’s helped me clarify my thinking, advocate for my growth, and contribute more meaningfully to the systems I work in.
And that, I think, is what this piece gets so right: career growth doesn’t come from pretending to have it all figured out, rather it comes from making space to grow, out loud.
This post builds on a recent LinkedIn #BookmarkDive reflection, feel free to join the conversation there.