Most people aren’t stuck.
They’re drifting.
That’s different.
No one locked you in a bad job.
No one secretly pulled the rug out from under your career.
You just stopped steering.
And you probably didn’t even notice when it happened.
The School Lie
For sixteen years, life worked like this:
Assignment.
Deadline.
Grade.
Do what’s asked.
Get rewarded.
It worked.
So you got good at it.
Then you graduated.
You got hired.
And the rules quietly changed.
There’s no syllabus at work.
No grading rubric for promotion.
No clear formula that says, “Do these five things and you’ll move up.”
But most people keep operating like they’re still in class.
Do what’s assigned.
Hit deadlines.
Stay agreeable.
Expect advancement.
That gap right there?
That’s where the drift begins.
Busy Isn’t the Same as Moving
You can be slammed every day and still not be going anywhere.
You can be respected, paid well, and still feel off.
Nothing dramatic has to happen.
No firing.
No meltdown.
No big mistake.
Just five years go by and you realize…
You’ve been executing.
But not deciding.
You’ve been working.
But not steering.
Compliance Is Not Strategy
Let’s be honest.
Most people think:
“If I just keep doing good work, it’ll work out.”
No one says that out loud.
But that’s the belief.
Here’s the problem.
Organizations are busy.
They reward what’s tied to their current priorities.
They don’t reward quiet consistency by default.
Being reliable keeps you employed.
It doesn’t automatically move you forward.
When you stop thinking about where your work is leading, you become reactive.
And reactive careers drift.
No One Took It From You
This is the uncomfortable part.
Your boss didn’t steal your direction.
Your company didn’t remove your options.
You set it down.
Somewhere along the way, you assumed the hard part was getting hired.
It’s not.
Getting hired gives you work.
It does not give you trajectory.
The moment you stop deciding what your work should lead to, you’ve handed over control.
And most people never notice when that happens.
Ask Yourself This
If you keep doing exactly what you’re doing right now…
Where does that put you in three years?
Not where you hope.
Not what might happen if someone notices.
If nothing changes.
That question alone wakes people up.
The Fix Isn’t Quitting
This isn’t about blowing up your life.
It’s not about rage-posting about corporate America.
It’s about deciding again.
That’s it.
Decide:
- What do I want this job to build?
- What skills increase my income power?
- What outcomes matter to the people who influence my pay?
- Where am I actually trying to go?
When you start asking those questions, you start steering again.
You’re Not Trapped
If this makes you uncomfortable, good.
That discomfort isn’t weakness.
It’s awareness.
Drift doesn’t happen because you’re lazy.
It happens because you kept executing and forgot to steer.
And the solution isn’t dramatic.
It’s ownership.
This Is Company of One
Not about quitting your job.
Not about blaming the system.
About putting your hands back on the wheel.
Because the moment you decide again…
Everything changes.
If this resonated, I share grounded insights like this each week in my LinkedIn newsletter
— focused on clarity, ownership, and taking control of your direction without hype.
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