My dad's "just push through it" advice backfired hard at my first real job review

I had this moment about 6 months ago where my manager sat me down and said I wasn't communicating when I was overwhelmed. I thought I was being tough by just grinding through late nights alone. Turns out my dad always told me to never complain and just finish the work no matter what. He would say stuff like "your feelings don't finish the project" when I was a kid. So for years I hid when I was drowning in tasks and it made everything worse. My manager finally pointed out that my silence was costing the team time and I had this weird flashback to my dad's voice. Has anyone else had a parent's "tough it out" rule totally backfire in a work setting?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera3086d agoMost Upvoted

Did you ever catch yourself nodding along when your dad said that stuff and then realize years later it was kind of warped? My mom was the same way about “never let them see you sweat” and I straight up hid a broken printer for three weeks because I was too embarrassed to ask for help. That fake tough attitude just made me look incompetent in the end when the truth came out. It's wild how those simple sayings from childhood can really mess with your judgment as an adult.

rose_hart5d ago

Three weeks hiding a printer. That's next level. Nodding along just kept the cycle going.