Recently I have been thinking about how my career has developed in the twelve-odd years I've been an engineer. It's often too easy to dismiss how much you have learnt when the job seems essentially the same during a long period of time. Every so often it's worth taking a step back and looking at your achievements.
The best way I can describe my current position is one of comfortable competence. Without being complacent, I feel quite capable in my abilities, whilst also knowing that I don't have all the answers, and wanting to develop further.
Feeling this way is still relatively novel for me. My early career was filled with a lot of doubt. I still did work I can be proud of, but my position felt very uncertain. I could do some work and be unsure about whether it would be received well or not. These days, having confidence in my abilities makes me more confident overall. Not only do I feel able to explain my views to my colleagues, but I can also respond quickly to my customers without doubting myself. Finally I feel naturally able to explain the way we do things to people who I am responsible for.
There is still so much more I want to learn and improve, but, taking a bit of a break from another week of living in uncertain times, it's great to reflect and acknowledge your abilities.
I'm publishing this as part of 100 Days To Offload. You can join in yourself by visiting https://100daystooffload.com.
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