careers feel off right now.

starting a new series #100DaysOfCareers.

and

Jun 23, 2025

It’s been a while you got a newsletter edition from me. Starting today, I’m bringing my good old friend & Co-founder of GrowthX, Udayan Walvekar (Twitter, LinkedIn) with a new series #100DaysOfCareers —

100DaysOfCareers.

careers feel off right now. every day, he will write one post on what he’s seeing, hearing, and sensing across 4,000+ members at GrowthX.

no clickbait, no easy frameworks. he’ll share what’s working, what’s breaking, and what’s shifting. this is for any professional who thinks, “i’m good at what i do, but i don’t know where this is going.

and with AI, layoffs & so much going on - it feels like reality is drifting away from us.

what all will we cover?

first, problem discovery.
which starts when you feel “is this it”. mismatched ambition, fuzzy feedback, the quiet dread of plateau. we’ll hold a mirror until the shape of the gap is obvious and named.

then, career clarity.
data, role models, market signals, a audit that shows where your skills spike and where they leak. we chase clarity here.

with direction locked,
we tackle the switch. why most proof of work is overrated but the right kind can change your career orbit. and the outreach scripts that open locked doors. the goal is momentum, not perfection.

landed? good.
now thrive. build a 90 day runway, get early wins, build trust, learn to market yourself within without the humble brag cringe. watch compounding kick in.

next, become the best.
deep work blocks, find mentors, systems for energy and pattern recognition. excellence will become a habit.

inevitably, the high plateaus.
ego whispers, growth stalls, monday feels flat again. that’s the cue to circle back to page one and ask, quietly, is this it?that’s the arc. problem, clarity, switch, thrive, excel, question. one loop, 100 days.

day #1 → is this it?

this is day #1 of #100DaysOfCareers
you’ve asked yourself this at least once.
“is this it?”

on the way to work. or lying on the couch post 10pm. or worse, during a zoom call while nodding to a roadmap you had no part in shaping.
“Is this it?”

you’re not failing. your calendar is full. reviews are fine. your team trusts you. people lean on you. you still deliver. and yet, something’s missing. it all feels a little flat. like the work used to stretch you, and now it just fills your day. but it doesn’t feel like you're doing anything. not anything that moves you, at least.

the symptoms are subtle at first.
but you can sense the difference.
fewer butterflies before launches.
no fire in shipping something new.
a dullness. repetition.
a quiet resignation.

you know something’s off.
not broken.
not urgent. just… off.

you tell yourself a break might fix it.
a weekend away from the city.
a sexier project. or a new manager.
deep down you know it’s bigger.

you’re feeling like –
am I still growing here?
is this my actual potential?
is this it?

if you’re still reading this, there’s a good chance you already know something needs to shift, but maybe you haven’t figured out where to start, or worse, maybe you’ve convinced yourself that this is just what being a “high performer” in your mid career feels like. competent, exhausted, and slightly disconnected from the ambition that got you here.

you’re pinned between two hard truths: maybe you’ve outgrown the role, or maybe you have no clue what comes next.

these questions don’t come with answers. just doubt. and a low level restlessness that doesn’t go away.

so what now?
there’s no formula that works for everyone. and definitely not a motivational quote. no magic pill to the mess we’re in. but there are two parts that i’ve seen that always seem to work. and they’re less about external change and more about internal honesty.

first, you have to face what’s really happening.
but not in a vague, “i think i might be bored” kind of way, but with uncomfortable clarity about which parts of your work have become shit. not knowing this “problem” builds tension. which builds anxiety. which shows up as procrastination. or doubt. or anger.

sometimes, people think they already know the answer. and that answer scares them. but, that's where they're wrong. so before you start, don’t assume you know. step into the exercise with a clear head. no biases.

now for our exercise.
look at your last 6 months.

one, list every project you touched.
what was it?
how long did it take?
what was your role in it?
what did you learn from it?
did the work stretch your thinking?
did it change your perspective?
did it build equity for the company? or for you?

while you build that list —
ask the nagging questions in full sentences. why am I restless? which part of this project feels stale? write until it stops sounding clever. when it start sounding raw, that’s when you’re getting close to the problem.

don’t underestimate this step.
you’ll feel silly. but this is the most honest work you’ll do. because until we know exactly what’s wrong we won’t be able to act on it. you’ll just keep numbing it. with weekends. with social media. with tiny productivity hacks that don’t fix anything.

second, once you’ve named it.
do not do make this mistake i see all the time. people will name the problem and get angry, annoyed and very disappointed. and it’s natural to feel that way. but resist it.

“my company doesn’t give me better work.”
“my team doesn’t listen.”
“there’s no growth here.”

and some / all might be true. but that’s not what will change your career. you will. there are only two input levers you have to solve this.

1/ look within.
2/ look outside.

path 1: looking within
if you’ve gotten too comfortable, own that.
if your work used to excite you but now feels like repetition, ask yourself:

when was the last time I went beyond the task? are you proactively picking up new problems? are you spending time with people you can learn from? are you still reading, building, writing, experimenting like you used to? or have you just become efficient?

and if the answer across all of that is yes, then maybe what you need is not a new company but a new attitude.

it’s natural to disappointed about “how did i reach here?” or even angry “why do i always have to keep pushing?”

it's not for hustle culture.
growth is the oxygen for a professional.
growth makes you feel alive.
and some of you already know this.

but then why did this still happen?
because when we start doing well, you're not actually thinking of an outcome. you're just doing it in a flow state, without any expectation that it will work.

and it works. and once it works, you are like, how do I make the next thing work? and in the pursuit of solving the next problem, you are not in the state of solving the problem anymore. you're actually in the state of getting an outcome, you're chasing that “hit” again. and when you don’t get that “hit” or “rush” again and again, you stop trying hard.

you're thinking, “ah, man, what's the point?”. and you forgot the flow you were meant to stay in. you slowly stop chasing the work itself. not because you’re tired, but because the outcome became the only thing worth chasing. but it never was. it was always about the flow.

path 2: looking outside
if you’ve raised your hand, grabbed the hardest projects, asked for more and somehow got less. then the issue isn’t you. maybe the place stopped moving, maybe you’ve outgrown the company and it’s ambition.

ask yourself: when did someone in your team make you think “damn, teach me that”? are the convos in the team still about building ambitious things that are exciting? or only general stuff? does the company value bar raiser talent? or do they tolerate people who never put in the hours?

don’t think about “the team needs me.” “next quarter will be different.” if the company hasn’t reinvented how it works in three years, you likely won’t either. not for lack of drive but because environments shape us more than we admit.

owning that truth is scary. comfort will always feel like a warm hug. you might even feel guilt. “they invested in me.” but staying where in an org when you chase growth but they won’t is a misalignment in values. for some people they don’t care. are you some people?

thinking about leaving is not the same as chasing the next shiny thing. it’s a start. maybe you do figure something better in your org, or maybe you don’t. either way you win. this exercise is designed for you to win regardless of the path you choose.

so first, make that list. once we have that, the picture becomes clear. once we have clarity, we choose a path. either stay and rebuild. or leave and build else where. regardless of what happens you’re chasing growth, you’re chasing your oxygen. and next time when you get that thought of “is this it” remember it’s actually your gut telling you something important.

so, is this it?
only if you let it be.

Thanks for reading this edition. Do share this with your friends who might find value from #100DaysOfCareers series.