Sometimes the career path feels less like a ladder and more like a roller coaster: thrilling, scary, and impossible to control. Have you ever felt stuck on the downside, wondering if you’re moving forward at all?

Well, this is my way to see a career progression: there are ups and downs. It’s hard to think about it, because how can we imagine the need to fall before we rise again?

If you know me, you know I’m too hard on myself. This behavior has positive and negative impacts. If you act the same way, you know how important it is to keep things under control. But most times, we don’t have this control. Do you recognize yourself here?

When I fall, I need my moments to reflect. It can take days or even weeks. For me, it demands time to get my thoughts in order to allow me to climb the mountain again. People around me try to help me move forward, but usually, I just need time with myself to reflect. How long do you allow yourself to pause before rushing back into action?

If you’re someone who finds it easy to reflect, you’ll understand how important this stage is. It may not be easy to figure out why you failed, but when you see the big picture, you can find another route to follow and start growing again.

After starting to grow again, you can feel you still don’t know enough. Most people feel the impostor syndrome in that case, and it’s not so good to feel this every time. When’s the last time you asked yourself: is this feeling about my skills or about my expectations?

But time will pass, and things will get better. After acquiring more knowledge, you’ll forget the hardest parts and enjoy the new achievements until you start to act with overconfidence, the famous Dunning-Kruger effect.

It’s not uncommon to think you already know a lot because you have worked hard. You feel empowered, excited, and full of enthusiasm. Even if you don’t know a thing very well, you try. It appears nothing can stop you.

At this time, I suppose you already know what comes next, right? Another fall. And this process repeats over and over again. If you were in this cycle again tomorrow, what would you do differently?

Takeaways

If you feel stuck or desperate today, remember this cycle doesn’t define your value; it refines your path. The next chapter starts the moment you decide to keep going, even slowly.

We all ride this roller coaster in different ways, but we share the same loop: fall, reflect, rise, and fall again, a little wiser each time.