By Dr. Laura Hambley Lovett, Organizational Psychologist, Speaker, and Author, Dr. Laura, and speaker at EVOLVE 2025
I’ve found myself gently nudging people to remove the word “just” when they’re explaining what they do or their achievements. For example, someone recently said to me: “I just have an undergraduate degree.” My reaction? Four plus years of grueling hard work, minimized in this way, is a travesty! Remove the word “just” and own the degree you accomplished. Yes, some people go on to do graduate degrees, but that in no way undermines the achievement and dedication of completing an undergraduate degree. Period.
Another example is “I’m just a stay-at-home parent.” How is raising the next generation of humans not as important as any other career? The patience, dedication, and emotional labour required of stay-at-home parents are commendable and should not be minimized.
The word “just” makes its way into our descriptions when we want to appear humble and downplay our contributions. Humility is a wonderful attribute, but when overused it can unintentionally reduce our confidence and minimize our contributions. What I call “justing yourself” downplays the skills, time, and effort involved in your achievements. In the workplace, it can impact how others perceive your expertise and can even work against your career advancement.
In my field of career psychology, our team at Canada Career Counselling works with many people who feel they have not accomplished what they set out to. They are hard on themselves and do not recognize their achievements. We help them realize that achievements in career and life take all shapes and sizes, and when we take the time to think through our past, our achievements surface and can be acknowledged and appreciated.
My late father, Barry Hambley—who I lost suddenly in 1997, only one week before finishing my undergraduate degree in psychology—gave me a framed copy of the Desiderata, which now hangs proudly on my home office wall.
The messages are timeless and good reminders of how we can navigate this tricky world. One of my favourite lines is: “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” This is so true, and I see people using “just” when they are comparing to people they view as having achieved more than themselves. The thing is, you never know the full story of anyone’s struggles and achievements. Instead, appreciate who you are and what you’ve done, finding gratitude in even the small hurdles you’ve overcome. Focus on continuing to grow and evolve in whatever career or life path you have chosen.
Another line I appreciate in the Desiderata is “Keep interested in your career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.” No career should have “just” injected in front of it. “I’m ‘just’ a janitor,” “I’m ‘just’ a server,” or “I’m ‘just’ a bus driver.” The world needs all these roles, and proudly owning whatever you do, and giving it your best, is what it’s all about.
In sum, I recommend removing the word “just” to communicate with more confidence, to own your accomplishments, and to help others recognize your contributions. This pesky, four-letter word is a harmful one that takes time and effort to remove from your vocabulary, but doing so will increase your confidence and positively impact your career and life fulfillment.
Read the full Desiderata.
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