Pushing against the pressure of being ‘pigeonholed’

How to stand up for yourself when stepping out of your lane

By jitendermittal

Published 10 July, 2025

Pushing against the pressure of being ‘pigeonholed’

How to stand up for yourself when stepping out of your lane

By jitendermittal

Published 10 July, 2025

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A couple of years ago when I started telling people that my next book was a novel, the responses were… mixed. It was not what they were expecting. There was a little suspicion or perhaps a touch of doubt. Who does she think she is?

When my debut memoir, Eggshell Skull, came out in 2018 it announced me to the world as a non-fiction author. I followed it up with Beauty and Who Gets to Be Smart, both of which are hard-hitting, issues-based investigations and personal, argumentative works. People were expecting more of that kind of thing. It had become my ‘lane’. By writing a novel—a sexy one about love and art—I was stepping out of that lane.

1

Don’t let other people’s judgement limit your potential

You will regret it if you do. People behave badly when they’re hurting and people judge most harshly when they’re insecure. In other words: you’ll pour your life down the drain if you let someone else’s negativity be the ceiling on your positivity.

2

Be honest with yourself

Are you expanding your zone, stepping into a new lane, for meaningful reasons, or for ego? Being honest with ourselves is the hardest thing and the work of a lifetime. If you can articulate to yourself and for yourself why you’re reaching for these new and different opportunities, and you back those reasons, you’ll be able to remind yourself of them and return to a confidence based in self-knowledge when you feel pressured to back down.

3

Be firm about your goals and direction

People can only see what you choose to share. There are some things we cannot control, but equally, in my experience, being firm and declaratory about my professional goals and directions will elicit excellent responses from the type of like-minded and driven people I do want to surround myself with and work alongside.

Making this pivot in my professional life has been frightening but gratifying. It has also made me much more eager to support friends and colleagues when I see them taking leaps of faith in themselves. Life is short; do the thing.

Bri Lee is the multi-award-winning author of Eggshell Skull, Beauty and Who Gets to Be Smart. Her journalism, essays and short stories have been published widely, and she is the creator and editor of News & Reviews. The Work is Bri’s debut novel.

Work In Progress is an FW series in which people we admire turn their specialist knowledge and leadership wisdom into practical, accessible advice that you can tap into.