With all that’s been going on in the world during the past months and years, you might roll your eyes at the very thought that you could pursue career success without fear this year, and it would be hard to blame you. However, I’d like to offer some encouragement with this thought: fear paralyzes; hope energizes.
I know it’s easier said than done to tell you to put fear aside as you plan your career steps this year. Like you, I’m not immune to the jabs that fear can take at us when we try to move forward in a desired direction. What helps each of us might not be the same for all, but for me, looking beyond my own admittedly limited resources plays a key role. The main point is to find what works best for you and put it into practice.
No Fear in the New Year
Jon Gordon revises his newsletter column titled “No Fear in the New Year” every year, and I always enjoy reading it. His experience 14 years ago might inspire you to look differently at your own situation, however challenging it seems, so I encourage you to read the entire article (signing up for his newsletter is easy and free).
One excerpt that resonates with me is this: “You will always feel fear. Everyone will. But your trust must be bigger than your fear. The bigger your trust the smaller your fear becomes. And the more you trust the more you become a conduit for miracles.”
He then goes on to explain how a financially grim picture was completely transformed in ways he couldn’t have predicted at the start. Within four short years he was in an amazing place in his career and his life. What’s to say you couldn’t experience a similar transformation in terms of your own career success, whether it’s a short-term job search or a longer-term career change?
Big Leaps Can Bring Big Rewards
Making a big leap in your career management (including things like a major job change) can seem really daunting at times. It’s what a respected colleague of mine once called “big gulp” time!
Now I’m not advocating an action such as the adoption of bungee-jumping as a spur to tackling difficult career challenges (although that might work for some of you!). I’m just saying that we sometimes need to move well outside our comfort zone if we hope to achieve a significant growth goal in our career–or in our life, for that matter.
For me, personally, this view has meant considering–and now actively planning–a cross-country move from California to Massachusetts to be near my sister. Many aspects of this planned relocation are challenging, not the least of which is eventually driving myself, my son and two small dogs more than 3,000 miles. Until now, my idea of a long drive has been 3-4 hours, tops.
I can’t foresee all the possible obstacles to be overcome in achieving this goal, but I do know I have a strong reason for doing it, and that motivates me. That might also be what helps you to move forward–to get past the fear you feel at the thought of making a big change in an uncertain world. I certainly hope it does and you reach the end of 2015 with a resounding “YES!” at how far you’ve come.
