How to outgrow your old work habits
Readtime: 3 minutes
Most people think career growth means doing something new.
New company. New team. New everything.
But sometimes the real transformation happens when you stay and decide to outgrow the previous version of yourself.
So you don’t always need a new job to evolve.
You just need to stop running the old playbook.
Here’s how.
1. Replace intensity with intention.
Early in your career, speed is your advantage. You say yes to everything, chase every task, answer every ping.
It works for a while, but eventually the volume of work grows faster than your capacity to handle it.
And that’s when it’s time to graduate from intensity to intention.
Don’t ask, “How fast can I do this?”
Ask, “Does this even need doing?”
Leaders rise not because they do more, but because they decide better.
2. Trade heroics for systems.
In the beginning, you’re rewarded for rescuing projects. You fix the mess. You save the deadline. You pull late nights and earn praise.
But over time, the people who build systems, i.e. better ways of working, create the real leverage – not the ones who play hero.
Stop being the firefighter.
Start putting out fires before they even start.
The goal isn’t to look busy.
It’s to make progress look easy.
3. Shift from answers to questions.
Early success comes from having the right answers. But sustained success comes from asking the right questions.
When you move from “let me tell you” to “what do you think?”, you signal maturity.
This builds trust, develops others, and stops you from being the bottleneck.
4. Stop chasing approval.
Many careers stall because we spend years trying to please everyone.
It’s noble, but impossible.
And the higher you climb, the more trade-offs you face.
So stop chasing unanimous approval.
Not everyone will like what you decide. So don’t spend hours trying to find a solution that isn’t there. Get comfortable with some people being unhappy.
5. Redefine progress.
When you stay in a role you’re happy in long enough, progress metrics can get fuzzy. There’s no shiny new title to validate your evolution.
So measure differently:
Track how you handle stress.
Track how you communicate under pressure.
Track how often you make things simpler instead of harder.
Those are the things that make your life easier, and they change how everyone around you experiences you at work.
The bottom line
Career growth doesn’t always mean leaving. Sometimes it means showing up differently in the same place.
The habits that got you here were right for that version of you. But they might not be right for the next one.
So before you update your CV, update your defaults.
Because when you outgrow your old habits, the work you already have can start to feel brand new.
P.S. Very, very final call for Atomic Ambition – we start at 4pm (UK time) today!