u/Either_Bug_4271

I'm a 25 year old male turning 26 next month.

I have an undergraduate degree and a masters degree and am doing my PhD. My first year has been a bust. I was following my advisor's instructions too closely without thinking too hard about the problem and positioning it as a convincing argument.

But zooming out, I've realized that all my life I've had this trouble of being assertive. I didn't like my job as I was being tossed around, so I quit and returned to school for a master's degree. I did some research pre-phd but nothing super substantial as a research artifact came out of it, besides it being used by some internal circles. And my first year failure is hitting hard.

I am worried that I'll be a doctor on "staying in school" and not having transferable skills to the real world. I am seriously worried I'll be behind on my PhD. I am worried what to do now. My parents assure me that I'm doing fine, but the back of my head screams that I am a spoiled kid who used my parents' funds for my education and haven't made it back.

Thanks for listening to my vent. I don't want my lack of assertiveness to carry forward.

Happy Monday, team! 🌞 Mondays are for momentum, and it’s time to turn those weekend ideas into weekday execution. Looking forward to seeing everyone *bright and early, in person, for our daily 7:45 AM standup beginning today* as we align on priorities, surface blockers, identify low-hanging fruit, and drive meaningful cross-functional synergy.

To encourage energy, engagement, and active participation, this will be a *1-hour in-person meeting where all attendees are expected to remain standing for the duration*. Please come prepared to discuss blockers, bandwidth, quick wins, and opportunities to move the needle so we can circle back on action items and maintain momentum throughout the week 🚀

Excited to see everyone standing shoulder-to-shoulder as we hit the ground running and make it a high-velocity week!

^My friend got this at 11pm on a sunday, what do