Things I’d Tell My Younger Professional Self 🤍
If I could sit down with my younger professional self, I’d have a few things to say. Mostly: breathe. You don’t have to figure out your entire life before your first benefits enrollment.
10/7/20262 min read
If I could sit down with my younger professional self, I’d have a few things to say. Mostly: breathe. You don’t have to figure out your entire life before your first benefits enrollment.
And if you’re questioning your career, returning to work after kids, or realizing your old goals no longer fit—maybe you need to hear these things, too.
You’re not married to the career you chose at 18 freaking years old. You’re allowed to change your mind. More than once!
Getting offered your first “big girl job” can feel like being picked. But you get to choose, too. Ask questions. Research your worth. Negotiate. And if you take a job because you need it, remember: it can be a stepping stone.
You can change companies. You can change industries. You can start completely over.
People will have A LOT of opinions about who you should be, how you should work, and what you should want.
You don’t have to build your life around those opinions.
Be careful whose opinions you allow into your dreams. Sometimes the people who love you will still project their own fears onto you. Not everyone needs a front-row seat to what you’re building.
Trust your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, pay attention. Ask questions. Give yourself permission to explore what needs to change.
Learn to set boundaries. Your career can matter deeply, and so can your life, your family, your peace, and the person you are outside of your job.
Travel. Meet people. Take chances. Ask the uncomfortable question. Negotiate. Network. Push back when your plate is too full.
There will be politics. Egos. Bad managers. People who underestimate you. And people who surprise you by fighting like hell for you.
Stay kind. Stay you. Keep moving.
And maybe the biggest one:
Being good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it forever.
You will outgrow jobs.
You will outgrow goals.
You will outgrow versions of yourself you once worked really hard to become.
And that can be confusing as hell.
Especially when the career you built no longer fits the life you have—or the person you’re becoming.
You can be grateful for what you’ve accomplished and still want something different.
Not every right decision will feel good right away. Sometimes choosing yourself is uncomfortable. Sometimes beginning again means taking one small step before you know where the whole path leads.
But you do not owe your younger self the exact life she thought she wanted.
You’re allowed to want more.
You’re allowed to want different.
You’re allowed to begin again.
That isn’t failing.
That’s becoming the boss of your own life. 🤍
What’s one thing you’re still holding onto because a younger version of you wanted it—and does it still fit the life you want today?
