You’ve done it! Now what? The work routine is being learned and mastered. You’re making those important connections and augmenting your strengths. The feedback of being recognized for what you bring to the table is growing. Your value is increasing and opportunities are on the horizon. Your boss gives you more challenging work that you can handle, as you have been supportive and open to projects, ready for anything. The personality and skills within you bring that positive energy everyone craves while making your job positive with who and how you are. All the while improving your own traits and yourself. Everything is going well.
Then, the brick wall happens. You have done everything you can to get where you’re at, but there’s something impeding your path and progression. It could be a person, an ideal, or something new to learn. Just when you’ve planted your roots an upheaval comes from some unknown source. You do what you can to keep yourself grounded while forceful winds try to tear you out of the ground. It can seem exhausting just to keep an even pace.
Brace yourself and brave the storm, young grasshopper. We thrive for change and evolution in our current roles. The desire to redesign, achieve upward mobility, and even make lateral moves will take time. It can be vexing when you have to wait, knowing that you’re ready to take the next step. But that deep seeded growth has been flourishing in the connections and strengths you’ve improved upon. Those that have been there for your progression will support you during the trying time. You ensure your survival with what you’ve learned in your new setting.
Understanding the source of the brick wall is important to making sure it doesn’t stunt your growth, or slow down your path to success. Could it be a conflicting idea or something new to learn? Attack it head on with positive intentions and find common ground. Keep your mind open and ask those probing questions to fully understand what you’re dealing with.
Your struggle becomes more elaborate when this brick wall is a person. You can just wish them away. Who is it? How are they hindering your environment or your growth? Attacking the problem head on with all of your might may not be the best solution. This person may have a strong influence in your environment. If boundaries are ignored, whether in malice or benevolence, the reaction could be worse than what you were expecting. Especially if this person is in a leadership role or on your team.
It all comes back to your work ethic and those connections you have and have fostered. Someone who has knowledge and insight can be a good resource, such as a mentor. They may have been through a similar situation and have the experience to provide you with direction on how you should proceed. This is a person you want to keep in contact with. They have your best interest at heart and care about your development. That growth goes both ways too! This will benefit you by becoming a resource that colleague can rely on and you learn some tips along the way.
There will be unforeseeable paths, hazy and dubious. When you feel stuck in a dark tunnel, sometimes you forget how you got there. When you feel the pressure of a dense mountain above you, remind yourself: you are not lost. The only thoughts that exist within your mind are the ones that you assemble. You are not the one stuck in the tunnel – you are the mountain, stoic and strong. That strength will bear the trying winds of change and hindrance. You are here because you choose to be, and you will continue to be stuck if you see yourself as immobile. You control the game, the pieces in it, and you influence the other players. What you think and how you react is what determines how everything evolves.
