Man, 2021, right? Everyone was looking for some kind of sign, some flicker of hope, something to tell ’em where they were headed. I remember seeing all this talk about “unlocking your potential,” especially in your career. Sounded great, but for me, it felt more like trying to open a rusted old padlock with a butter knife.
I started that year feeling pretty restless. My job wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exactly lighting my fire either. Just clocking in, doing the same old dance. I knew I had more in me, but damned if I knew how to dig it out. So, I figured, maybe I should actually try to unlock something. Just see what happens.
The Initial Fumbling Around
First thing I did was just try to work harder at my current gig. I thought, “More hours, more effort, maybe someone will notice, maybe something will pop.” I just put my head down and pushed. I took on extra tasks, volunteered for stuff nobody else wanted. I was showing up early, leaving late. After about three months of that, I was just plain exhausted. And, honestly, nothing really changed. My potential felt more locked up than ever, just tired.
That’s when I stopped and thought, “Alright, clearly, that ain’t it.”
Digging Deeper Than Just Grinding
So, I started a different kind of practice. Instead of just doing more, I started thinking more. I grabbed a pen and paper, and just started writing down everything – what I liked, what I hated, what I was good at, even the dumb stuff I did for fun outside of work. No filter, just getting it all out.
- I started observing people at work, too. Not in a creepy way, but trying to see what folks who seemed genuinely happy or successful were actually doing. What kind of problems were they solving? What skills did they lean on?
- Then, I reached out. Not for a job, not for advice, just for a chat. I messaged a couple of old contacts, people I hadn’t talked to in ages, just to “catch up.” What were they up to? What got them excited? Those casual talks, surprisingly, sparked a lot of ideas.
- I also went down a rabbit hole of online courses. Not super expensive, fancy stuff. Just free or cheap ones on things I had a vague interest in – some basic coding, a bit of graphic design, even a short one on storytelling. I wasn’t trying to become an expert; I was just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck.
My evenings became less about zoning out in front of the TV and more about fiddling around with these new tools or just scribbling in my notebook. Sometimes it felt pointless, other times a little exciting. There were definitely days I just wanted to ditch it all and go back to doing nothing.
A Small Click, A Bigger Picture
One evening, I was messing around with this simple design program, trying to make a goofy logo for a fictional product. And it just… clicked. It wasn’t about the logo itself, or even becoming a designer. It was the process of taking a vague idea and making it visual, solving a little puzzle. I realized that what I really enjoyed wasn’t just doing tasks, but creating something from scratch, even if it was small, and seeing it come to life.
That was a huge moment. All those chats, all those scribbled notes, all those random courses – they started to make a bit more sense. My existing job was mostly about maintaining things, making sure stuff didn’t break. My “potential,” it seemed, was more geared towards building or kicking off new things.
Taking the First Real Steps
With this tiny new insight, I shifted my practice. Instead of waiting for opportunities to land in my lap, I started looking for ways to inject that “creation” energy into my current role. I saw a small gap in how our team was sharing information, something that was a bit clunky. Instead of just complaining, I mapped out a rough idea for a new, simpler system. It was just a presentation, really, a bunch of slides and mock-ups I put together in my spare time using those basic design skills I’d picked up.
I was nervous as hell, but I pitched it to my boss. I wasn’t asking for a promotion or a new title. I just said, “Hey, I think this could make things smoother, and I’d be happy to help get it off the ground.” To my surprise, she was actually interested. Not a full “yes,” but a “let’s explore this.”
By the end of 2021, I wasn’t running a new department or CEO of my own company. But I had taken the first genuine steps toward something that felt more aligned with me. I wasn’t just “unlocked” – I was still very much in the process – but I had found the right key, or at least started chiseling away at the rust. It wasn’t about a big, grand prediction coming true; it was about the messy, awkward work of figuring out what made me tick and then having the guts to try something different.
