The 120% Problem: Why Starting Strong Can Backfire in Your Career

The 120% Problem

Every time that I start a new job, I feel like they have very high expectations of me because I start by showing my best and then I slowly like I chill a little bit, right? Because at the beginning, you have to show that you’re very good and then you chill.

And I feel like every time I have the anxiety because I feel like I’m I’m letting them down. What is the good thing? Should I always like be 120% or should I not be 120% at the very beginning?

But I want to show 120% because I want to show them like what’s my maximum I can do like at that moment. then I’m not going to work €120% all the time.

The Salary Reality Check

If a company pays me €1,000, no matter how much I work, I’ll still be earning €1,000. Is it worth it working 120% coming back home tired and not being approved by the company and not having issues?

If a company already tells me that there is no prospect of like making me grow, there’s no perspective. And especially they don’t sign the fact that there’s proactivity because if they say it, oh sure, if we see you improving, we could maybe possibly give you a raise. That’s not enough. I’ve learned that.

The Broken Promise

I’ve been busting my ass off for a previous company. I’ve been busting my day off refusing some opportunities for myself and then I was like, okay, I did so well last year. Can I get a raise? Not really. What do you mean not really? You said that if I if I worked well, I you could have, right?

I was like, “All right, it’s on me for not having that written down, but at the same time, you’re a piece of shit.”

The Secret of Success

I heard once that the secret of success is to do what you love, but talk someone into paying you for it.

The Power Years: 30s and 40s

35, 45 are the most powerful years combination of experience and enough money to do great things. I am honestly like at the very beginning, I was like, “Oh, when I’m 30, my life is going to be done.” But like right now, I’m getting it closer to my 30s. Very closer. And I’m like, “I enjoy this.”

30, you’re not old yet. But you have the money that you didn’t had in your 20s, right? So 20s, I feel like 20s are a lot for learning, you know, like you you test and try stuff in your 20s. Most of the times you have the the safety net and when you’re 30, most of the time usually on average you have a bit more money than when you were like a broke student, right? And you can afford to do more things. And I’m loving this period.

Finding the Right Path

In uni, the bachelor that I got was in languages for international business. Let me tell you my academic career.

So, I finished the high school with like a decent grade. It was like 80 out of 100, which is in Italy is like it’s like a good grade. It’s like not a top tier grade. It was like average grade. Nothing much.

Then I finished the high school and I already got into engineering school and I did one year like straight away like I finished I started engineering. I tried to enter into the academic of art of drama but anyway I didn’t get in. Of course I went to engineering. I did one semester. I talked to someone that already was doing that job and then I realized this is not for me. I loved the subjects. I didn’t like the final job that I was going to do. So I quit it.

Learning Work Ethic

I worked for a full summer. I worked until I got to September. So for a semester I worked as a shop assistant and I got to learn the work ethic and I got to learn what does it mean to be a shop assistant or to be doing a job like that.

I was like this is also not for me like or at least if I’m getting a job I don’t want to be like at lowest level I I need to be a team manager because these people are not good managers and I hate them and I’m feeling miserable and I hate them all.

I need to learn. I need to have a degree so like I can get already a higher position and I want to learn more about this but what do I do?

Discovering Languages and Business

What is something that I like? I like what is something that I I’ve been doing for good for the past years and that I’m feel confident with. And I realized that it was like mostly learning languages all the time. I was always trying to learn languages. I was like very good in English already, but it was like kind of natural. I didn’t care about making a fool out of myself and showing like how didn’t know stuff in that specific language.

And then I decided like you know what there is this course that is languages for international business. I want to do business. I like languages. Let’s put it together.

I looked at the courses and it had like a lot of things together. I studied law because of it. I studied uh economy because of it and I was like this is perfect.

Finding Purpose

I’m not extremely sure I want to do so there’s no point in doing something very specific right from the very first time when I started uni I was like you know what if I’m doing this I want to do it like with a purpose. What purpose do I want to have? I want to go abroad. What do I have to go abroad? I have to have these grades. I looked and I tried my best to get those grades.

High School Struggles

In high school, I was always like getting six, you know. I was ending like with an average of six. all the time. Like I was maybe getting a first exam, a first test. I was getting five. So the other one I had to take a seven. Like I was studying hard so I could get a seven. So I never like experienced what I really liked. I never did like cool things.

I was trying things out. I I did like robotics when I was in high school a little bit but not that much because we didn’t have funds. I did it for like a month. So then then it stopped it. I didn’t get to actually experience when I was in high school.

I was getting uh scolded by my mom all the time when I was in high school. We had such a bad relationship when I was in high school because we would fight all the time because I was not putting effort and I was lying to her and I was hiding my grades and I was because I just didn’t care. It was not passionate at all.

University Success

But anyway, when I started uni, the uni that I did was honestly pretty simple. I’m going to be honest. It was simple. It’s not because I’m smart or I’m like, “Oh my god, I’m so I’m a genius.” So, it was simple. No, no, no, no. It was really simple to the point that when I got graduated, there were so many people like with me that got announced with 100% with the cum laude we say.

Since I knew that the uni was pretty easy, what I did is like let’s find something that entertains me.

Finding Taiwan

First of all, I found an association that could send me abroad for cheap because I was like, I’m not learning anything. Like I’m not learning the language at all. My language is too basic. I was studying Chinese, right? I want to be better.

If you go, for example, with EF to do like a month abroad, you have to spend like €3,000 at least, plus the flight plus other things. In this case, I was paying like €350, I think, for like a month and a half, 6 weeks, and they were covering most lunches, most uh my staying, and uh the old organization was covered. I just had to teach kids English. And I was spending 1 month and a half abroad.

And I joined this association. I had so much fun. I loved it. I was really enjoying it. It was one of the best summer I could ever had. I got to experience Taiwan for the first time. God, this country is insane.

The Purpose-Driven Approach

So, I came back home and I was like, “Okay, I got my purpose now. I have to get good grades so then I can choose to go to Taiwan. Not only I will be able to go abroad, but I also will be able to choose where I want to go and where I want to go is Taiwan.

Building Relationships with Professors

I got BFF with a teacher like the teacher loved me to the point that her exam I didn’t do it with the other people. my exam. It was me, Kami, and other two people from our course that we were like just talking to her about like Game of Thrones. That was our exam 30 with the cum laude and then she was also the woman that helped me with my thesis.

And then I was also going to like the professor whenever I was not understanding anything. I was going to the professor asking questions like why? Because then when you go to the exam, especially if it’s oral, you go to the exam, teacher sees you and you’re like the person that was going there to ask questions like oh they’re trying like if they’re here they tried, right?

I also have the rule of sitting always first or second rule at uni.

Finding Purpose in Association Work

After I came back from Taiwan, I also joined the association that sent me abroad because I really loved it. And when I was there, I found my purpose. We were learning business models. We were learning about marketing. We were learning about sales. We were learning about making a team, team leadership.

I found my purpose for that period, which was like learning about this in a good way with people around. Well, making a team of people interested in like making the world a better place. Very cringe but same time true.

The Year in Taiwan

After that, I went to Taiwan for a year because I finally third year arrived. Finally, I got to achieve the highest scores I could in my course and I got to choose where I wanted to go and I was able to choose Taiwan.

Anyway, I did that year. I came back to Italy and I was like, okay, I graduated. Let’s start a work. Let’s start a job.

The First Job Disappointment

I found a job in a multinational account key manager assistant. I hated it. Not only I hated the job but I hated the place where I was and I thought it was a problem of the B international of that one.

So I spent I did like one year working in this company as an intern. I did those three months and they were like, “You know what? We’re going to have you again for other 3 months as an intern.” And I was like, “Who’s paying me €500 and €500.”

I did a lot of like interviews, right, to get an internship. And in Italy, internships don’t pay like among all the interviews that I interviewed for, only that one was paying and they were paying €500. and consider that I was a key account manager assistant. So I knew how much money the company was getting because I knew when it was good month, a bad month and I knew that we were doing good.

Returning to Taiwan

I spent the last month of the internship looking for jobs in Taiwan. I found the first opportunity as an English teacher which is the basic thing you can find when you go to Taiwan. I left and I went to Taiwan and with the money that I was doing by being a teacher. I was like paying myself the rent and I was paying my Chinese classes.

been in Taiwan for like a year and then while I was there I was like I need to figure it out what am I going to do with my future because Italian company no small shop no I need to go bigger what do I like I like languages I like business and I like computers so I started a master in data science and digital marketing data science digital marketing in France so I could speak English all the time and I did those two years where I was learning more and more and getting to know more things and like I got into a multinational and then I got Italy the best country to get a job. Surely myself surely not for now. Not for now.

The Multinational Disappointment

So then I started my master degree. I went away for a year. I was like okay France is not my country. I spent one year in Paris, one year in Grenoble. I’m going to be working for this big multinational which is Schneider Electric.

And I was like it’s a big multinational. It’s American. There’s not going to be again those high school kind of vibe. I was like, “Okay, working in an office might not be for me. I love all of this, but working in a multinational where I have to do powerpoints all the time.” And then I work on a project for 6 months and then they don’t approve it. So, we have to go back and start all over again and it just get trashed. I hate it.

I was like, “My job is useless. I don’t like it. I don’t have creativity. My creativity is destroyed. I don’t want it. I’m done.”

The Broken Promise Lesson

I remember the last time that I talked to them too, I was talking to my new boss. He was like, “Oh, yeah. No, actually, we’re we’re not going to be able to give you the position that we told you we were going to give.”

Which is when I realized you always have to have emails where they tell you what kind of job they’re going to give you after. Always have it written down. When they tell you, “Oh, yeah, then you have the prospect of becoming this and this,” have it written down and make clear KPIs. Tell them, “Okay, how much do I have to bring to the company in order to achieve that? What are the results that will make me get that promotion? Have it written down.

Finding Startups

In the meantime, I got a job offer from a startup and I was like, you know what? I’m going to try a startup. And I realized that startup is my word. I like startups because I felt as I felt when I was back in my uni working with association with the students where I was managing everything and it was stressful but I loved it because we were achieving things.

Streaming as a Startup

At the same time, I started doing streaming and this for me is the best because I leave this as a startup. I have my mods as my team. I have my editors as my team. I have the business plan like what do we do next? Where are we going? What do we do? Do I like it? Do I not like it? What’s my future? And I love it.

The Final Advice

Then I started also working for this other company. At the meantime, I was like, okay, I’m doing good with my streaming. I want to do more. Let’s manage also other people for another company. I joined this company and I started managing talents and all of that.

Remember, if you have a job right now and you don’t like it, don’t feel bad about looking for another one and do the bare minimum on that job. The bare minimum to not get fired. If you didn’t know, if you didn’t realize, it’s something that it was boiling inside of me. Was really boiling inside of me.

Understanding the 120% Trap

The problem with starting at 120% is that you set an unsustainable standard. When you inevitably drop to a more sustainable level—which is still good work—it feels like you’re underperforming. This creates anxiety and can damage your relationship with your employer.

The reality is: if a company pays you a fixed salary, working 120% doesn’t increase your pay. You’re essentially giving away free labor while setting yourself up for disappointment when you can’t maintain that pace.

The Importance of Written Agreements

One of the most important lessons learned is the need for written agreements. Verbal promises about raises, promotions, or future positions are meaningless. Companies can and will change their minds, leaving you with no recourse.

Always get it in writing:

• What position you’ll be promoted to
• What KPIs you need to hit
• What results will trigger a raise
• Clear timelines and expectations

Without written documentation, you have no leverage when promises are broken.

The Value of Your 20s

Your 20s are for learning, testing, and trying different things. Most people have a safety net during this period—whether it’s family support, lower financial obligations, or the ability to take risks.

This is the time to:

• Explore different career paths
• Build skills and experience
• Make mistakes and learn from them
• Find what you’re passionate about

Don’t feel pressure to have everything figured out. The 20s are your experimental phase.

The Power of Your 30s

The 30s and 40s are often called the “power years” because you have:

• Experience from your 20s
• More financial stability
• Better understanding of what you want
• Resources to pursue meaningful opportunities

This combination of experience and money allows you to do great things. You’re not old yet, but you have the resources you didn’t have in your 20s.

Finding Your Purpose

Purpose comes from understanding what you enjoy and what you’re good at. For this person, it was:

• Languages (natural ability and interest)
• Business (practical application)
• Working with teams (enjoyed the collaborative aspect)

Finding purpose often requires:

• Trying different things
• Paying attention to what energizes you
• Noticing what you’re naturally good at
• Combining multiple interests

The Startup Advantage

Startups offer something that large corporations often don’t:

• Ability to see direct impact of your work
• More creative freedom
• Faster decision-making
• Sense of ownership and achievement
• Less bureaucracy

For people who thrive on seeing results and having autonomy, startups can be a much better fit than large multinationals.

The Streaming Model

Streaming can be thought of as running your own startup:

• You have a team (mods, editors)
• You have a business plan
• You make strategic decisions
• You see direct results
• You have creative control

This model works for people who want autonomy and direct connection between effort and results.

The Bare Minimum Strategy

If you’re in a job you don’t like:

• Don’t feel bad about looking for another one
• Do the bare minimum to not get fired
• Use your energy to find something better
• Don’t burn yourself out for a company that doesn’t value you

This isn’t about being lazy—it’s about protecting your energy and mental health while you transition to something better.

Frequently Asked Questions