Why I feel like I’m 3 years behind in my career
Let me start with a summary of my 10-year career in product design:
Years 1–3: Surviving 😂
I was trying to find my feet. I had no idea what I was doing, let alone thinking about building a real career.
Year 4: Lightbulb moment 💡
I started to truly understand design and the impact I could have. I began to get clear on what I wanted for my future. This is when I started taking my career seriously.
Year 5-6: My growth era 🪴
I got focused. I pushed myself and started to see real progress. I began to feel proud of my work.
Year 7-10: My career exploded 🎇
Things took off! Amazing companies. Bigger projects. Bigger pay. Better than I could have imagined.
But none of it was luck.
If I could go back…
I'd rewrite years 1–3...
I wasted time. I made mistakes that cost me years of progress 😭
These wasted years make me feel like I'm constantly behind in my career.
Since I don't have a time machine, I'll tell you what I'd do differently. And maybe it could help you avoid the same mistakes.
Mistake 1: I expected my manager to own my growth
I didn't take initiative. I had no clear goals. I had no idea what I wanted my future to look like. I just waited for someone else to tell me what to do.
No one's going to do this for you. And you wouldn't want them to because no one cares about your growth more than you.
Your manager can support your development, but it's not their job to drive it. That's on you.
A 2019 Gallup study found that only 30% of employees feel their manager is involved in their development.
This means 70% are waiting for help that isn't coming.
I was part of that 70%, and it's true, the help never came.
Mistake 2: I did the bare minimum
In the early years, I coasted.
I did what was asked and convinced myself I had done "enough."
In a catch-up with the CEO, I expressed my disappointment that my manager had not given me a pay rise or promotion in the past year. His response?
"Based on what I've seen of your performance, I think that was the right call."
Ouch.
But he was right.
As much as this conversation bruised my ego, it was the wake-up call I needed.
After this, I started doing more than what was asked:
I ran a user journey mapping study
Took on content strategy for a project
Asked to be on an important project on the roadmap
Got more involved in product conversations
Always volunteered for presentations
No one gets promoted for just meeting expectations.
Mistake 3: I had no plan
I believed that
showing up,
doing my job and
‘getting experience’
was enough to build a successful career.
I assumed that career progression was something that just… happened.
Instead, my growth was random, with gaps.
I learned whatever happened to come my way instead of being intentional about the skills I needed for the type of job I wanted.
💡 Start thinking about your goals. Be clear on the kind of designer you want to become.
Learning doesn't happen by accident. It needs to be intentional.
Some wild stats from a Harvard study to support this:
83% of people don't set goals
Of the 17% who do, only 3% write them down
That 3% earn 10x more than the rest
Do you want to earn 10x more than the rest?
Mistake 4: I didn't ask questions
There were smart people around me - PMs, senior designers, engineers.
But I kept quiet each time I had questions because I didn't want to look stupid.
I lost out on huge learning opportunities.
When I finally did ask (year 4), people were helpful, generous, and respected me more for my curiosity.
I practically got mentored for free on the job by being willing to ask.
HBR research backs this up: People who ask more questions are perceived as more competent and likable, especially when they ask thoughtful follow-ups.
Mistake 5: I didn't believe it was possible for me
I would look at senior designers and think: "They're just built differently."
I assumed they were naturally talented, and I just... wasn't.
That belief stopped me from even trying to get better.
What changed? I started asking them about their journey. I realized most of them started out exactly like me.
They just stuck with it longer.
Carol Dweck's research shows that believing you can improve is the first step to improving.
In one study, students with a growth mindset outperformed their peers by up to 33%, simply by believing their effort mattered (Dweck, 2006).
Conclusion: Your Career, Your Move
If I’ve learned anything from a decade in design, it’s this:
Your career doesn’t build itself.
No secret hacks. No overnight success.
The truth?
It was never the big things that made the difference.
It was the small, consistent actions that compounded over time.
It’s easy to overlook the little things. But those are the moves that quietly shape your career trajectory.
Here are a few actions that I feel had an impact:
I started asking senior designers what their roles actually looked like
I audited my past projects to reflect on what worked and what didn’t
I committed to spending 2 hours a week learning new skills, sometimes a course, sometimes just reading.
I shadowed PMs and engineers to understand how design fits into the bigger picture.
I started redesigning small parts of products I use regularly to sharpen my thinking.
I selected five yearly goals and broke them down into monthly tasks and reviewed my progress monthly
P.S
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