March 2023 Update:
I drafted this post a few years ago after a promotion I received. Now that I am sitting in the middle of another transition, this post makes me laugh. I was not wrong. My anxiety does ebb and flow and as long as I am challenging myself in my career path, and it will continue to do so…
While this isn’t a complete post, I am still going to hit publish. After all, my career path isn’t done yet either. I will leave this one open-ended.
I know I will come back to this regularly to reflect on my path.
I hope this brain dump helps you remember that while growth is scary, it is so rewarding!
Fall 2019 Update:
Last year around this time, I started this blog post reflecting on some anxiety I had over the career shifts I was facing.
It made me almost laugh out loud when I read it. Because these are feelings that I’m starting to think might ebb and flow in me throughout my career.
I am still learning how to be a strong, independent boss. While I know I can run my own jobs, within certain limits, there is still so much that scares me. Growth scares me. New challenges, scare me. Fires, terrified. But once I get through them, I realize I am having fun. And more importantly, I am proving to myself that I am capable of my dreams.
Take a peek into some thoughts from last year. Let me know if it’s something you relate to. I’d love to hear your career transition stories in the comments! 💜
Big changes in my professional and personal life tend to put me on edge. I’m an anxious person who is slow to owning that change in myself. My resistance to change is really resistance to believe I can do something, if I’m being honest. I have spent years being the right-hand woman to many strong project managers and superintendents. And when I changed companies back in April, I knew that my time as a project engineer was over and my role as assistant superintendent would be short. I’ve been an assistant super since April. Now, I’m stepping in as acting superintendent for a full week during a week of final inspections. (Worries going in, despite knowing I have a team to support me.) Currently, I am on Day 2. All day I kept thinking how much easier today felt. I was still coordinating subs, putting out fires, etc, but I noticed myself breathing easier. And overall, even though I did spend the first couple of hours on hyper speed, by the end of it I felt stronger. The more I get used to standing up for my plans and myself, the easier it gets.