February 12, 2026

205 - You Don't Notice Your Growth Until Someone Points It Out

22 minutes

Cindy Esliger addresses the reality that we often fail to recognize our own growth and why that matters to our careers. Our brains are wired to overlook wins, and Cindy explores why this is, as well as what cognitive biases are eroding our confidence. When we can’t see our own progress, we tend to focus on our perceived failures and don’t hold onto praise as long as we hold onto negativity. Why this impacts our careers and what strategies we can use to retrain our brains to notice our growth are the key things Cindy shares in this episode.

If we can’t see how much we grow, we lose faith in our own ability to take the next big step in our careers. Cindy outlines five big consequences of being blind to our progress: 1. Erosion of self-trust, 2. Being stuck in imposter syndrome, 3. Setting ourselves up for burnout and resentment, 4. Missing opportunities, and 5. Damaging our professional reputation. There is a real cost that we need to avoid by breaking the cycle of downplaying our achievements and missing our own development. Cindy shares what to look for in ourselves to identify our need to pause and take stock.

Simply identifying that we dismiss praise and compliments is not enough, however. We need to take actionable steps to retrain our brains so we can build self-trust and accept our own achievements. The practical strategies Cindy advises are: 1. Keep a progress file or brag folder, 2. Set up quarterly check-ins on our past selves versus our present selves, 3. Practice evidence-based self-talk, 4. Celebrate small wins in real time, and 5. Reframe ‘not enough’ as ‘not yet’. We’ve come farther than we think, and Cindy wants us to build up the habit of owning our accomplishments.

Resources discussed in this episode: