Grow fast, burn fast? Personal Lessons from the Steep Learning Curve | By Alton Chakma | November 2025

“Grow fast and burn fast?” This is exactly how I felt last year at work. I’ve gone from a calm, supportive role to a high-pressure environment where learning comes quickly – and so does stress. Here’s what I’ve learned while navigating this steep learning curve.

In the early phase of my career, I was fortunate to work in supportive, low-pressure roles. My supervisors and colleagues were helpful, so I was able to learn at my own pace with lots of guidance. I enjoyed healthy work, life balance, taking breaks to walk or cook, and I felt good mentally and physically. In hindsight, this “soft” environment has been shown to reduce stress and enhance satisfaction, which is supported by research showing that Social and organizational support in the workplace are strongly associated with increased job satisfaction and decreased emotional exhaustion.

Thrive in a supportive environment

• Collaborative team: Colleagues and mentors offered help and encouragement.

• Controllable pace: Workloads and deadlines were reasonable, allowing time to ask questions and learn from mistakes.

• Focus on well-being:Less stress means I rarely feel overwhelmed. In reality, Employees in supportive environments tend to feel a stronger sense of belonging and are more motivated.

• The trade-off – slow growth: I learned the basics, but promotions and new responsibilities came gradually.

This simple learning path has made me happy and confident, but it also means I’m not pushed to grow too quickly. I felt safe, but sometimes I was a bit stuck in my comfort zone.

Facing the fast lane in my current league

Everything changed after I moved to my current position. The pace of the team was very fast, and the learning curve became very steep. In just a few weeks, I had to quickly adapt to new technical requirements – shifting from Excel-based reporting and guideline-based work to hands-on development tasks. Analyzing business logic, working with DAX metrics and visualizations in Power BI, and writing SQL queries, all while debugging, have become part of my daily routine.

In the beginning, I would often work late into the night just to keep up. Within a short period of time, as I improved, expectations and responsibilities increased – taking on large-scale front-end development projects, handling urgent bug fixes, and managing additional ad-hoc tasks. I kept thinking about how to solve problems or come up with new solutions, even after my work hours were over, when my mind wasn’t getting any rest. These tight deadlines and long hours took a toll on my mental health –Research links extended work hours, higher job demands, increased anxiety and depression, and decreased well-being.

Comparing soft versus hard learning environments

Supportive (soft) environment:

High pressure (solid) environment:

The positives of one path highlight the negatives of the other. My current role has built artistic confidence, but the lack of support has sometimes left me feeling isolated and drained.

Lessons learned: Find balance

My experience has taught me that neither side is perfect. A path that is too easy can leave you unprepared, while a path that is too difficult can lead to burnout.

Here are some of the lessons I offer:

I am grateful for the supportive environment I had at the beginning of my career, as it built my foundation and kept me happy. I am also grateful for the current challenges I face, as they have pushed me to grow faster than I ever thought possible. From now on, I aim to balance both worlds: continue learning but not at the expense of my well-being.

conclusion

Both the “soft” and “hard” paths have taught me valuable lessons. The soft way protects my peace. The hard way accelerated my skills.

My advice: grow at a sustainable pace. Challenge yourself, but not to the point of losing yourself.

What about you? Have you taken a similar path – from a supportive and stable role to a high-pressure role (or vice versa)?