Alright, so I gotta share something I’ve been mulling over, something I kinda stumbled into practicing. For years, I was all about, you know, making a splash. Be the guy with the answers, the one who’s always visible. Thought that was the only way to get ahead, to make a mark.
It was exhausting, man. Always gotta be “on.” Always gotta have an opinion, even if it’s half-baked. And you know what? Half the time, I think I was just adding to the noise. More heat than light, if you catch my drift.
Then I landed on this project, a real grinder. And there was this one person on the team. Super quiet. Barely said boo in meetings. But their work? Solid. Always delivered, no drama, no fuss. And when they did speak, people actually shut up and listened. It was like, whoa. That hit me.
So, I figured, let me try something different. A little experiment on myself. For a whole month, I decided I was gonna try to just… fade back a bit. Not disappear, mind you, but just not try so hard to be seen.
Here’s what I did, or rather, what I stopped doing:
- Jumping in first: In meetings, I made myself wait. Listen. Actually hear what others were saying before I even thought about opening my mouth. Man, that was tough at first. Felt like I wasn’t contributing.
- The “look at me” stuff: Dialed back on trying to make every little thing I did sound like a breakthrough. Just did the work. Sent the email. Moved on.
- Needing to be right: Picked my battles. If it wasn’t crucial, I let it slide. Not easy for a guy like me, let me tell ya.
The first week was weird. I felt invisible. Like, am I even here? My old instincts were screaming at me to pipe up, to do something flashy.
But then, things started to shift. Slowly.
I noticed I was less stressed. Seriously. Not being “on” all the time frees up a lot of brain space.
My actual work, the stuff I was paid to do, got better. Because I was focused on that, not on the performance around it.
And the funny thing? People started to approach me more. Not in big meetings, but quietly, one-on-one. Asking for my actual thoughts. Because when I did speak, it wasn’t just to fill the silence. It actually meant something, I guess.
It’s not about being a wallflower, or letting people walk all over you. Nah. It’s more about being… strategic. Efficient. You make your moves when they count, not just to make noise. It’s a different kind of presence, a different kind of strength. You’re not trying to grab the spotlight; you’re just doing good work, and somehow, the right kind of attention finds its way to you. Or maybe it doesn’t, and that’s okay too, ’cause you’re not burning yourself out trying to get it.
So yeah, that’s my little revelation. Took me a while to get it. Still practicing, to be honest. It’s not always my first instinct. But it’s definitely made things a bit smoother, a bit more real. Less song and dance, more just getting stuff done. And honestly? It feels pretty good.
