Part 1: 9 Reasons to Harness Your Brilliant Difference and Start Making Edge Moves in Your Career

Your comfort zone is cozy, but nothing grows there. I know it can be easy to stay in a zone that’s familiar and predictable. After all, our brains are wired for familiarity and safety. But this safety mechanism can sabotage our growth, keeping us from making leaps, from transforming our dreams into reality.  

For instance, in the earlier days of my career, I was comfy. My husband and I lived in the city, raising our daughter. On the outside, it would have looked like a modern dream, but on the inside, it really looked like: work, commute, pick up kid from daycare, rush home to prep dinner, read bedtime stories, get ready for bed. 

Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.  

A part of me wanted more than this rinse and repeat cycle. I wanted to start my own coaching business, work in learning and development, create and build my own leadership development company, move out of the city, etc.  

And I did do all that. That’s exactly what my life and career look like now. But it never would have happened if I didn’t dig deep to uncover my personal brand, Brilliant Difference, which helped me muster the courage to make Edge Moves.  

If you’re still not keen on branching out of your comfort zone, let me give you 9 reasons why you might want to reconsider. 

Personal 

1. Burnout and disengagement. 

2. Career well-being. 

3. Generational differences. 

Organizational  

4. Return to office. 

5. Proximity bias. 

6. Demand for skill evolution.  

External 

7. AI advancement. 

8. Global competition. 

9. Digital presence requirements.  

For the sake of this letter, let’s double-click on the reasons of the first section, Personal. The following two letters will then double-click on reasons from Organizational and External. 

1. Burnout and Disengagement 

Burnout and disengagement are at all-time highs: 

According to Gallup, 76% of employees are burnt-out and only 32% are engaged.  

That means that two-thirds of people in the workplace aren’t interested, nor invested in their jobs.     

Do you fall into this statistic? 

Unfortunately, if you want to continue to excel in your career and leadership, you can’t afford to have lulls and be disinterested in your work. Yes, it happens for various reasons. We’re human. Ensure you take care of yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally, and connect yourself with the tools to help you leap forward, such as your personal brand.  

Building a Brilliant Difference brand is a guiding light in times when you’re just not into your job. It reminds you of who you are and why you do what you do. It reminds you of your mission.  

2. Career Well-being 

Your career plays a massive role in your overall well-being, impacting your engagement and energy levels at work. 

Gallup states that: “People with high career wellbeing are more than twice as likely to be thriving in their life overall.” 

This is your time to pause and reflect. Is your career impacting your well-being? What can you do about it? 

Start by digging deep into your personal brand and identifying Edge Moves you can make to get back to a healthier career well-being. 

3. Generational Differences 

For the first time ever, there are four different generations working together in the workplace: Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z.  

With the different generations come varying beliefs, experiences, values, and skills. All of these elements impact how you value yourself and others. There are biases and limiting beliefs attached to each generation. 

For instance, a Gen Xer could be stuck in middle management and believe they’ve missed the boat to senior leadership, whereas a Millennial could be thinking they lack the experience and wisdom of older generations and won’t be considered for leadership. 

How can you overcome these limiting beliefs to step into your leadership and reach your next level? Remind yourself of your personal brand and make Edge Move. 

For generational differences, your Edge Move could be as simple as flipping your mindset from focusing on why you can’t do something at work to the strengths your generation supports you with to help you get there. 

In the next volume, I’ll discuss the next three reasons for why you should harness your personal brand and make Edge Moves today. 

For now, though, looking at the first three reasons, which Edge Moves will you start making this week? 

Will you start prioritizing your career well-being? 

Will you rekindle your purpose of why you do the work you do? 

Will you look at your generational advantages and where they can support you in advancing? 

No matter which moves you make, I wish you the most brilliant success. 

It’s time to start inching out of your comfort zone, one Edge Move at a time, with your personal brand as your guiding light. 

Yours truly, 

Finka