5 Secrets to Overcome Fear & Indecision When Making a Career Change
Author: Nicky J. Davies |
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Categories: Business Fast Track
It’s the first day of the week and that gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach has returned. You know this job is not ‘it’ for you, but what else could you do? There are so many new careers to choose from it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Afraid of making the wrong choice leaves you where you currently are. And as time ticks by you realise that more of the same is not an option any more.
Having decided that you can’t carry on like this, how do you overcome the fear and indecision you feel about what to do next?
Here we are going to explore five secrets to overcome fear and indecision when making a career change using my own personal experience, and that of working with hundreds of managers who have changed their careers over the years.
1. Treat this like a research project
Separate out the emotion and go about it as if it were a research project about somebody you know (very well!). Take a deep breath and tap into the prefrontal cortex part of your brain, also known as the executive centre rather than the emotional limbic brain. The executive centre is where your visionary, strategic planning skills and problem-solving skills lie. You can be more objective from this place and clearly identify options and next steps.
Research different careers you are interested in – find people you can talk to who are currently in those roles. You may even find people in our FACEBOOK GROUP who can answer your questions. Here’s some to get you started:
What does a typical day involve? What do you like best about the job? What do you least like about the job? What are the challenges in such a role?
2. Become comfortable with feeling uncomfortable
As author Caroline Myss said, “Always go with the choice that scares you the most, because that’s the one that is going to help you grow.”
​In its most basic form, fear exists to protect you and take care of you. When we are born, we have just two fears – the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. Every other fear we have as adults has been learned. So the next time you feel fear, see it as an indicator that ‘this’ is important to you. But don’t let it stop you – become comfortable with feeling uncomfortable.
I can remember very clearly the time leading up to me leaving my corporate job and becoming self-employed. I was excited. I already had my main client set up who happened to be my current employer (yes, the company I was leaving was going to be my first paying client), but was also a little nervous about how everything was going to work out. I had no marketing / sales experience as such so it was going to be a steep learning curve. I had a recurrent dream around that time and it was just plain weird! The dream summed up for me the mixed feelings I had about the situation, but a real sense that everything was going to be alright. I would dream about jumping off a cliff, with nothing to stop me from crashing to the ground and becoming a lump of strawberry jam! But somehow, I would always land safely in a meadow of long grass and wild flowers with the sun shining bright. And I’m not the only one that has had such weird scary dreams but with such a delightful outcome. Become comfortable with being uncomfortable because you will grow as a result of this experience, and all WILL be well!
A useful question to ask yourself when feeling uncomfortable is ‘what’s the worst thing that could possibly happen?’ Chances are you have had worst things happen to you and found a way to cope with those so, let it go and get on with taking action!
3. Create the vision
This will sustain you during difficult times. As Michael Beckwith says "Pain pushes until vision pulls."
While lying in bed one night ask yourself, ‘if I was to wake up in the morning and my career change was sorted, what would it look like, sound like, feel like?’. Use this as a starting point for creating your vision for the future. Include all elements of your life – spiritual, vocational, mental, family, health, wealth, social. You may even want to create a vision board covering all 7 elements of your life. Find images that inspire and place them on a board or large piece of paper. This exercise has even more power when you include those you love in visioning the future. It will also help create more clarity around exactly what you want out of life.
4. Set yourself goals and break things down into achievable steps
here’s a great expression that goes something like this: if you are going to eat an elephant, make sure you take one bite at a time. From your vision you can come up with goals, from your goals you can come up with milestones, from milestones you can come up with specific actions, and from these, into even smaller actions. Any action you write for yourself that feels too big a stretch, break it down into smaller action steps until the next step you need to take feels a stretch, but also achievable.There’s nothing quite like success to drive you forward!
5. Get support from the right people
When I was leaving my corporate job there were many who kept saying ‘I couldn’t do what you are doing’, ‘you are brave, or foolish!’, and variations of this. I could have joined in with their sense of fear and started questioning whether I was doing the right thing, but I decided that what they were saying told me much more about there insecurities than my own.
I spent more time with those that were supportive and curious about what I was doing and planning on doing. Many even gave me useful contacts and access to other resources and to this day I am grateful for all they gave me and taught me.
So, make sure you surround yourself with the right people who will support and challenge you to step up and make the change. We are also here for you and have an online programme and group coaching which can help you make the change in your life. CLICK HERE to book a strategy call with me so we can identify what a great next step would be for you.
In summary:
- Be drawn to a vision which excites you
- Become comfortable with being uncomfortable
- Do your research and ask plenty of questions
- From your vision, come up with goals, milestones and actions that you implement
- Surround yourself with the right mix of support and challenge
With a clear vision pulling you forward into a new reality, and a commitment to continue to grow by becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable, you can become excited about your future again and fall back in love with your life.
Nicky works with managers who are looking to make a mid-career change, helping them make the changes needed to fall back in love with their lives.
CLICK HERE to book a strategy call with me so we can identify what a great next step would be for you.