Drift Happens

Yesterday we talked about effort. Today we need to talk about something quieter and more dangerous.

Drift.

Most career damage does not come from bad decisions. It comes from no decisions at all.

You keep showing up. You do your job competently. You meet expectations. From the outside, everything looks stable. From the inside, something is slowly dissolving.

This is not laziness. It is entropy.

Drift Happens Even When You Are “Doing Fine”

Careers do not stay healthy on autopilot. Skills age. Incentives shift. Organizations change shape.

Markets move while you are heads down delivering.

If you are not actively applying pressure in a direction you chose, pressure will be applied for you.

This is how people wake up one day feeling oddly behind despite a solid résumé. Nothing went wrong. Nothing dramatic happened. Time simply passed without intentional steering.

That is drift.

Why Smart, Capable People Miss It

Drift is subtle because it feels productive.

You are busy.

You are needed.

You are relied on.

Those are powerful sedatives.

High performers are especially vulnerable because competence masks stagnation. You can be very good at work that is slowly becoming less valuable. You can be indispensable in a role that is narrowing your future options.

By the time discomfort becomes obvious, the gap is already large.

The Early Warning Signal

Here is the signal most people ignore:

You cannot clearly articulate what this role is building toward anymore.

Not the next promotion. Not the next raise. The actual trajectory.

If the answer is vague, inherited, or based on hope rather than design, drift is already underway.

This does not mean you need a five year plan. It means you need a direction of travel that is conscious.

Drift Is a System Problem, Not a Moral One

Modern work environments are optimized for short term output, not long term career health. There is little structural incentive for organizations to help you maintain optionality. Stability is rewarded. Questioning trajectory is not.

So drifting is not a personal failure. It is the default outcome of an unmanaged system.

The mistake is not drifting. The mistake is assuming drift will correct itself.

The Point of Today

Today is not about fixing anything yet. It is about naming the condition.

If you feel vaguely stuck despite being objectively successful, that feeling is data. It deserves attention, not dismissal.

Tomorrow we will talk about why clarity often feels uncomfortable at first, and why that discomfort is a sign you are doing the right kind of work.

For now, just notice whether you are steering, or simply moving.

That awareness alone reduces entropy.