Your Sorting Hat: On starting from now, the hidden competitive advantage and retesting limits
Career Tuesday
Careers, Life and Questions (Jul 22, 2025)
Wish you a Happy Career Tuesday!
3 Career Ideas
I.
"Start from now - not from scratch.
You may have fumbled last week, missed deadlines, or paused progress. That’s okay. This week? Begin with where you are.
Dust off your plan. Reboot that tracker. Recommit to the goal.
Momentum doesn’t care where you start - only that you do."
II.
"Your second wind hides behind discomfort.
You quit when it hurts - not because it’s over.
That email you’re avoiding? That skill you’ve shelved? That project that scares you?
They are thresholds. On the other side lies growth, confidence, visibility.
Push through. Pause only to breathe, not to stop."
III.
"Hard things are better than easy wins.
Easy work makes you look busy. Hard work makes you better.
Choose what stretches you:
- A meeting that needs prep
- A course that feels too advanced
- A role you feel underqualified for
These build careers. Not status updates or inbox zero."
2 Life Quotes from Books
I.
Morgan Housel, author of Same As Ever, on long-term success:
"Stamina is the competitive advantage nobody talks about. If you can keep going, you can outlast nearly everyone."
Source: Book: Same As Ever by Morgan Housel
II.
Adam Grant, organizational psychologist, on procrastination:
"Many people associate procrastination with laziness. But psychologists find that procrastination is not a time management problem—it’s an emotion management problem. When you procrastinate, you’re not avoiding effort. You’re avoiding the unpleasant feelings that the activity stirs up. Sooner or later, though, you realize that you’re also avoiding getting where you want to go.
Source: Book: Hidden Potential by Adam Grant
1 Question
What belief about your limits has gone untested this year?
Is it time that you challenged it - with one action?
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Until next week,
Devashish Chakravarty
Author of YourSortingHat
Columnist for Careers at The Economic Times