Been dragging a 16 inch horsehair wet for years too, so you are not alone on Bell Street.

Got turned down for a supervisor gig at my warehouse job about four years ago and felt like garbage for a month. My boss told me the same thing basically, that I could do the work but never ran anything on my own. So I volunteered to take over the night shift inventory mess that everyone hated. Two years later I was running a crew of nine and making more than the guy who got the job I wanted. It stung at the time but man were they right about me not being ready yet. That $7,200 raise is no joke either, glad it worked out for you.

That notebook habit is solid, I do the same thing with a grease pencil on the dash. Writing it down keeps you honest about your pace, and you start to see what setups actually save your back instead of just guessing. The water breaks thing is real too, I used to crash at 3pm every day until I started forcing myself to stop every hour.