MY DEEP DIVE
Growth Without a Playbook
Most career advice assumes something that simply isn’t true.
That growth is linear.
That clarity comes first.
If you follow the right steps, things will work out.
In reality, most meaningful careers are built without a clear playbook — and often without certainty.
This became especially clear to me during my recent conversation with Silvia on My Way. Not because she had all the answers, but because she was honest about what growth actually feels like when you’re inside it.
Messy. Uneven. Often uncomfortable.
The myth of linear growth
We like stories that move neatly from point A to point B.
Study → job → promotion → confidence → success.
But that’s rarely how it works.
Most people experience growth as a series of:
unclear decisions
temporary regressions
moments where you’re not sure you’re moving forward at all
What looks like confidence from the outside is often built after action — not before it.
Waiting for certainty is one of the most common ways people stall their own progress.
Confidence usually follows movement
One idea that stayed with me from the conversation is this:
Confidence is often the result of moving forward — not the requirement to start.
We tend to think we need to feel ready before we act.
But in practice, readiness is something you earn through action.
Trying something before you feel prepared.
Taking responsibility before you feel qualified.
Saying yes while still figuring things out.
That’s not recklessness.
That’s how learning actually happens.
Growth is often about unlearning
Another overlooked part of growth is unlearning.
Unlearning expectations you picked up early.
Unlearning definitions of success that no longer fit.
Unlearning the idea that someone else’s path should work for you.
Many people keep adding skills, frameworks, and advice — while ignoring the beliefs that are holding them in place.
Sometimes progress doesn’t come from doing more.
It comes from letting go.
There is no single right path — only trade-offs
What My Way is trying to explore isn’t a better playbook.
It’s a better way of thinking about decisions.
Every path has trade-offs.
Every choice closes some doors while opening others.
And most decisions are made with incomplete information.
Growth comes from understanding those trade-offs — not from pretending there’s a perfect option.
The long view on performance
When you zoom out, performance isn’t about intensity or speed.
It’s about:
staying curious longer than others
making fewer irreversible mistakes
learning faster from imperfect decisions
and building confidence through repetition, not certainty
That’s the long game most people don’t talk about.
Not because it’s secret — but because it’s uncomfortable.
Final thought
If you’re in a phase where things feel unclear, uneven, or slower than expected — that doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.
It probably means you’re growing.
Not through a playbook.
But through experience.
That’s often the only way that really lasts.