#2 - What I learned from a tough week at work?

It’s been a little over a month now since my team kicked off a consulting project and had already completed analysis work. With that, we had to propose a preliminary recommendation for the modules we had submitted earlier. For context, I was relatively new to the industry but I did my due diligence — reading white papers and articles to keep up with the latest industry developments.?

Even as I built foundational knowledge through plenty of desktop research, I still couldn’t help but feel like a kid walking into Disneyland for the first time. I still remember feeling uncertain over what I knew, and was even more afraid of what I didn’t. And without expecting it, I was given the responsibility to create the recommendation framework and prepare client-ready deliverables by the end of the week.

For days, I felt mentally drained as I struggled to get my brain juices flowing, to find the right framework (literally felt like the guy in the cover photo). As I hypothetically drew and threw away the countless ideas into an imaginary rubbish bin, I couldn’t help but doubt if my ideas were ever going to meet the initial review standards, let alone the clients’ expectations. However, given that the due date was approaching, I decided to stop ideating and started working on one of the ideas (which I admittedly still had lots of doubts about).

A few days pass and I decided the ask for feedback. Upon the initial review with my project manager, I was shocked to hear that she was happy with the framework that I came up with. In none of my imaginary scenarios would she have complimented my work and what more, said that it was something she wouldn't have thought of herself. It was such a great thing to hear especially after such a challenging week. We then went on to discuss how to further improve the framework and made a few minor adjustments before adding it to the client update.?

The following week, I went back to work with a great sense of satisfaction, and a fresh feeling of relief, not because my work was accepted but because the stressful week paid off in the end.?

Thus, I took the weekend to reflect on this recent situation and, here are some of my key learnings:

• In challenging situations where we find our backs against the wall, we shouldn’t sell ourselves short and doubt our abilities to overcome seemingly impossible challenges. If we feel mentally incapable of believing in our capabilities, take a look at some of the past work that we're most proud of. Find that inner validation from past achievements and avoid feeling like an imposter. It's important to remember that we are the exact same person who has succeeded in the past and will be the one who succeeds again today. Here's a great quote from Ralph Marston:

"You've done it before, and you can do it again. See the vast, positive possibilities of your past."

• The best way to start anything is to take action. We sometimes get too caught up in the cycle of ideation-and-analysis that we become overly critical of our plans and never actually get any work done (besides planning on the best approach to solve the problem). While planning is key to everything we do, too much of it becomes a form of procrastination. Avoid getting trapped in the planning loop — get straight to work on a half-perfect plan is better than coming up with a perfect one because,

"Spending too much time on planning defeats the very purpose of planning itself, that is to be productive."

• Getting feedback is a great option to validate our ideas and abilities when faced with a difficult situation. The ability to receive comments with an open mindset is often underrated because it helps us escape working in a silo and see things from a wider perspective. Our friends and colleagues who have varying experiences and knowledge are great avenues for constructive criticism. It helps us constantly learn from our mistakes and improve on our work, in ways that we could never have imagined.
• Initially, all problems seem like huge mountains to climb, and even thinking about it, can be stressful. But like all problems, there are solutions. Similar to doing math problems as students, we keep trying different calculations until we get the right number. We can reframe all problems into opportunities to develop our cognitive abilities. If I had asked for help from the start, I wouldn’t have experienced the stressful process of experimenting with multiple different ideas, and subsequently, developing my abilities and learned by trying. And contrary to popular beliefs that stress is detrimental to productivity and performance, we should view stress as an essential part of life. When handled well, it can play a catalytic role, fuelling our actions and helping us surpass our limitations.

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and maybe even learned a thing or two from this.

In my next article, I’ll share about my abruptly-ended university life and what I’ve learned from such an unforgettable experience.

But that’s it for this one guys, ciao.

#williamwillwrite