[cbanek]

> If I make a mistake at work and people are aware of it I am afraid that it reflects negatively on me more than the good things I do reflect positively.

I think this is just how you think about yourself, because everyone is their own worst critic (myself included). The things you do right last a lot longer I'm sure than your mistakes. Unless you like, killed someone, or broke some incredibly expensive thing, etc. But then you'd probably be fired already.

Mistakes happen when you try something new. I think the most important thing is to manage your risk - what happens when you screw up? Hopefully the impact of mistakes is small.

As anecdata, I always really admire people who can say "look, I screwed up, and this is how I screwed up. Now you can learn from my mistake and maybe not screw up." Owning it I think is key. I'm not saying it's easy though.

One thing to be mindful of is a toxic, petty workplace. Even some large FANG companies are like this, where everyone is looking for reasons to try to hold you back even though they don't mean anything, it's just to make them look good. I got tired of that shit, and so I'm done with cultures like that. People end up spending so much time stabbing each other in the back they rarely get work done. When in a situation like that, make nice with the decision makers, and just remember the best revenge is success (and best served cold to your enemies). Don't even bother trying to woo jerks with your success.