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			<h1>Finding Your Swagger</h1>
      <p class="mutedTime">2021-11-06</p>

			<p><em>This is a longer post than usual. I'll start with the punchline so casual readers can get the gist. But the rest will be a long winding path into the details of one of the most difficult professional experiences I've had, all the emotions I felt, and how they eventually led to the following lesson.</em></p>
			<br>
			<hr />
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			<p>I have never been a particularly confident person. I'm not necessarily unconfident, but it takes an unusual amount of effort to build up my confidence. I don't think I'm alone in this. </p>

			<p>Thus, I never quite realized the importance of <em>swagger</em>. What is swagger? For me, it's knowing what you're good at and acting accordingly — earned confidence. But it's not arrogance. Your behavior and ability are in lock step. </p>

			<p>When you lose your swagger, you lose your self. When you lose your self, you need to spend time alone. When you spend time alone, you are left with nothing but yourself. And only from there can you find yourself, and your swagger, again. </p>

			<p class="callout">Time for the long and winding part.</p>

			<p>This is a story about a time I lost my swagger. </p>

			<p>I joined a fast growing startup in 2015. I got the job by cold emailing the head of product. They brought me in for a day of interviews — all typical stuff. Until the end. My last conversation was with two of the co-founders — CEO and COO. They asked what kind of person I was. We talked for an hour. I thought they would thank me for coming in and get back to me in a couple days. They offered the job on the spot [1]. The COO left the room, printed the offer letter, and came back with a pen. I was stunned, but exhilarated. I would be the second product hire and hundredth employee. </p>

			<p>My first six months were a whirlwind. The company was growing fast. And it showed. Sales had ambitious quotas. Engineering had more bugs than they could fix. Customers had more feature requests than we could track. I felt right at home. </p><commit_msg>more twitter card metadata again<commit_after><!doctype html>
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  <body class="blogPost">
    <a class="mutedNav" href="../index.html">« Home</a>
    <a class="mutedNav" href="../blog.html">/ Posts</a>
			<h1>Finding Your Swagger</h1>
      <p class="mutedTime">2021-11-06</p>

			<p><em>This is a longer post than usual. I'll start with the punchline so casual readers can get the gist. But the rest will be a long winding path into the details of one of the most difficult professional experiences I've had, all the emotions I felt, and how they eventually led to the following lesson.</em></p>
			<br>
			<hr />
			<br>
			<p>I have never been a particularly confident person. I'm not necessarily unconfident, but it takes an unusual amount of effort to build up my confidence. I don't think I'm alone in this. </p>

			<p>Thus, I never quite realized the importance of <em>swagger</em>. What is swagger? For me, it's knowing what you're good at and acting accordingly — earned confidence. But it's not arrogance. Your behavior and ability are in lock step. </p>

			<p>When you lose your swagger, you lose your self. When you lose your self, you need to spend time alone. When you spend time alone, you are left with nothing but yourself. And only from there can you find yourself, and your swagger, again. </p>

			<p class="callout">Time for the long and winding part.</p>

			<p>This is a story about a time I lost my swagger. </p>

			<p>I joined a fast growing startup in 2015. I got the job by cold emailing the head of product. They brought me in for a day of interviews — all typical stuff. Until the end. My last conversation was with two of the co-founders — CEO and COO. They asked what kind of person I was. We talked for an hour. I thought they would thank me for coming in and get back to me in a couple days. They offered the job on the spot [1]. The COO left the room, printed the offer letter, and came back with a pen. I was stunned, but exhilarated. I would be the second product hire and hundredth employee. </p>

			<p>My first six months were a whirlwind. The company was growing fast. And it showed. Sales had ambitious quotas. Engineering had more bugs than they could fix. Customers had more feature requests than we could track. I felt right at home. </p>
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