That’s a good point about the Peter Principle. What I’m referring to though is more like the ladder of existence. The hierarchy of stations in life.

Earlier I was a homeless man. Now I’m a single guy living in a small apartment, saving a tiny bit of money from a pretty hard and low-paid job. If I push a bit more I can be a single guy in a medium apartment, with a car, and a slightly higher-paying job.

But not a new job within the same company, just some totally different job that of a totally different nature. Hopefully more meaningful. Right now I’m making retail wages and doing retail work, so low pay for low meaning. But hopefully I can move up to something like social worker salary (not high in the overall scheme of things, but higher pay than retail work).

That corporate ladder is a microcosm of the overall ladder I’m describing. In both hierarchies successful execution, smooth surfing, is the path to the next layer up. And the responsibilities get more complex.

And yes, I appreciate you reminding me to face it and communicate, instead of just backing away silently, when I don’t feel that I’m ready to face the problems of the next level.

Growth requires discomfort and a big part of that discomfort is taking the risk of trying things I feel like I can’t do.

One of my problems in my career is I interview extremely well. I’ve talked my way into jobs I can’t do, then failed badly.

And it’s not by lying or anything. I just sound really smart because I’m a good talker and sound extremely confident.

But interviews are sprints and jobs are marathons, and I’ve burned myself by failing to acknowledge what I can and can’t do.