The Secret To Changing Your Career? Change Your Fear
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Have you ever thought about trying something new with your career, or making a switch
in your current job and then immediately said to yourself: “Oh – but I could never do
that
.”



The reasons you have are many: Your mortgage (or rent) payment. The economy. You
are worried about your kids. This isn’t a good time. Your current job is not too bad, so
why rock the boat?



You think these thoughts to yourself quickly and then move on…and yet, something
nags at you. You know that something is still unsatisfying in your work. You aren’t happy
and you keep thinking “what if…?”



If you take a moment to unpack those thoughts, you realize that underneath those quick
reasons you listed to stay, there are much much bigger fears about trying to leave...and
these fears keep us stuck. They probably look something like this:

1. If I leave my current job, I will never be able to replace my salary, and I could end
up losing my house/my car/my lifestyle. How would I live?



2. If I leave my current job, what would I really do? I’ve got some random ideas, but
I don’t know if they would really work. Maybe they’re just daydreams – I’d
probably never really pull them off.



3. If I leave my current job that I know and am good at, what happens if I am terrible
at the next job or I hate it?



4. Thinking about the job change process of is incredibly overwhelming. It is too
much to take on and I don’t know where to start. How would I even figure it out?



5. Even if I did now what to do next, I barely have time to do everything today. I will
never have time to actually look for a new job, much less figure out what I really
want to do.

Do any of these fears sound familiar? They should, because feeling them means you
are totally, and completely, human. Congratulations and welcome! Who hasn’t felt
afraid of failure, or the unknown, or even afraid of survival (that whole pesky rent
thing...). I sure have, and still do. So, understand that you are not alone - anytime you
make a change that could threaten your basic life order, some fears will surface. Those
fears are coming from your subconscious, allowing you to think decision through, and
protecting you from doing something crazy. So, take a moment to applaud your
subconscious for working correctly.



(wild applause)



So, we’ve given your subconscious its job recognition, but now it’s time to move on (end
wild applause). Once you have confronted all the reasons not to make a change, it’s
time to work on beating your fears so that they do not control your decision-making
process.



Are you ready? Let’s do it!



Step One: Take a deep breath. As these fears surface, your body will respond in that
“fight or flight” conditioning that is human. Your heartbeat will pick up, your muscles
may tighten up, and your thinking might even speed up. Fight or flight was all well and
good when we were fighting off cave bears 3,000 years ago, but now you need space to
think, and not just to respond. So, it’s time to breathe. Breathe in and count to five
slowly in your head, and then breathe out and count to five. Do this three times, or until
you feel more relaxed (and if you don’t feel more relaxed, then try it again. And if you
still don’t feel relaxed, try it with a glass of wine).



Step Two: Get clear on the real fear. Is it about money? Is it about the unknown?
What’s really driving you to stay safe, stay stuck, and not make any forward progress,
and where did the fear come from? Figure it out and write it down.



Step Three: Validate your fear. It’s time to rationally consider if your fears are really
true. For instance, if your biggest fear about leaving your job is that you will not be as
good at anything else, I want you to ask yourself: “How true is that really?” Can you say
for certain that you have no other skills or passions that get you excited or energized?
That there is nothing else in your life that you do well? How true is it (honestly now) that
you won’t be able to pay the rent or find the time to job search? Have you really thought
about your options and seen what is possible? I think you see my point!! !



If this was easy, we would all be in perfect careers. It does take work to address your
fears. But you’ve made it to the end of this article (bravo!), so you absolutely can do
these exercises and face some of your career fears. Just sit back, relax, and take a
breath…