A career curve is any opportunity, situation, or event impacting your career. You don’t know how it will turn out. You didn’t see it coming.
The Pitch
Think of it like baseball. The ball leaves the pitcher’s hand, and it looks like one thing is going to happen. By the time it crosses the plate, it’s in a whole other place.
The Trail
Hiking works the same way. You’re walking a path. It looks like a dead end. You’re faced with a choice: turn back now, or keep going to see what’s actually there. If you keep going, you find the trail doesn’t stop. It splits. You have options, left or right. There’s a reward for not quitting early.
Confidence in the Curve
Having confidence in a career curve means trusting that, no matter what happens, you’ll figure it out. You’ll bounce back, even if you can’t see where this is going or what you’ll need when you get there. Based on the trail you’ve already walked, you know what’s likely to happen and what you might need when it does.
Reading the Writing on the Wall
When a batter is expecting a fastball and gets a curveball, they have to adjust everything: their swing, their timing, their expectations. But a batter who’s studied the pitcher, who already knows the curveball is in play that day, isn’t caught by surprise. They’re ready to adjust before the ball even leaves the mound.
The same is true for a career. There’s a difference between reading the writing on the wall and just seeing it. If you’re reading it, actually paying attention to what it’s telling you, you’re more likely to recognize a career curve before it fully arrives, and to spot the opportunity inside it. If the curve is a layoff, reading the signs early means you can meet it already knowing what you wanted anyway: a change of trajectory, a shift in industry, a chance you’d been circling.
I’ve watched this play out in my own career. One role lasted seven years before the company ran out of money. But there was a lot of signaling along the way, and by the time the turn came, I could see how sharp it was. I decided I would lay off rather than lean in and swing at the pitch.
What Career Satisfaction Actually Is
Career satisfaction isn’t just being satisfied or fulfilled once you’ve arrived somewhere. No one arrives and stays there. Whether by design or because life keeps throwing change into the mix, you keep going. You don’t camp out at the destination.
That doesn’t mean the destination doesn’t matter. Celebrate it when you get there. But that moment is small in the grand scheme of things. It’s more helpful to focus on the present, on the journey, on becoming who you’ll need to be when you arrive. True satisfaction is recognizing that the whole process is necessary, worth celebrating, and worth leaning into.
Where the Overwhelm Comes From
Overwhelm shows up when you’re trying to figure out how something is going to go. You can’t see the destination from where you’re standing. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. You’re in the middle of the journey. But overwhelm comes from trying to determine the outcome without having all the information. Bring it back to the present, enjoy the journey, and notice the information you do have.
Leaning Into the Curve
Navigating a career curve is also like riding a motorcycle or a bike. You lean into the curve in such a way that you don’t fall off. If you do fall, get back up and try again. Only you know how comfortable you are with leaning into the curve. It’s important to account for how fast you’re going and how much or how little you will lean. Confidence is doing exactly what’s needed in the moment, based on the information you have.
What changes when you consider what you’re facing is a career curve?
