Do you want the kind of career 'most people' have?

Most people would rather stay in a miserable work situation that step into the uncertainty of change. In this guest blog post, Hattie B takes you through a step by step process to work through fear and begin to take action in your career change.

In his recently released book 'Uncertainty', career-changer Jonathan Fields writes that most people go to great lengths to avoid the pain of uncertainty. Even if that means the pain of certainty is greater than the pain of uncertainty itself.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never wanted to have a career like most people. Most people (92% according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development) aren’t strongly engaged at work. And most people, 3 out of 4 say the CIPD, claim they are constantly working to their absolute maximum capacity, leading them to feel they are ‘not enough’ for their roles with their wellbeing suffering as a result.

But despite all these factors, most people – as Jonathan argues – prefer to stay in certain unhappiness than contend with the thought of being uncertain. The reason?

Fear.

Faced with uncertainty, it’s so easy to fall into a disaster-film mindset where all we can envisage is catastrophe and misfortune. Our fears can easily consume us, leading to paralysis and inaction until, in brighter moments we tell ourselves to just “get over it.”

But I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to get over your fears – you need to get into them.

‘Getting over it’ is really just code for putting it to the back of your mind, ignoring the source of your feelings, and not acknowledging your sub-conscious thoughts. Instead of letting those thoughts come to the surface, we push that thought to the backs of our minds, arrange our upper lips into a stiff position and… carry on just as before.

Over the years I’ve learnt that the only way to really deal with fear is to get into it, and this means using both your left-brain and right-brain sequentially, in order to create a meaningful dialogue with your doubts.

So, how do you do this?

Create some time in your day in a quiet place where you can be assured you will not be interrupted or have your focus broken. Take a sheet of paper or open a fresh word document, whichever feels more comfortable and in flow for you.

Now write, unedited, and list out all of your fears and doubts surrounding your career shift. Write for as long as the words continue to appear on the page. Don’t attempt to censor yourself or be tempted to include or exclude things you feel you ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ list.

Having trouble? Think over all those little conversations you’ve had in your head when you’ve been close to jacking it all in. What were the things that stopped you? What are the things you’re worried others will say if you do? What are the feelings you’re trying to avoid right now? Get it all out of your mind and down on the page.

Create a rational dialogue with the uncertainties you’ve listed using these four questions from Byron Katie as a guide:

1. Is it true? Is the thought that’s driving you round the bend true? Can you be sure that it’s true?
2. How do you know it to be true? What basis do you have? Where’s the evidence? Does every piece of evidence point to the thought being true?
3. How do I feel when I think these thoughts? What impact does this fear have on you emotionally? Physically? How does your fear serve you/hinder you?
4. Who would I be without these thoughts? If you let go of your belief in your fear, would you feel differently? Would you act differently? Would your career-shift seem more manageable?

By getting into their fears (instead of just getting over them) I have seen people make significant breakthroughs and create possibilities in their brains that they thought were completely off limits. In my personal experience of going through this process I was able to accept that I would not lose my house, partner, credibility or self-esteem if I really went for it and established my own small business.

Once you’ve got into your fears and allowed yourself to recalibrate, take small and purposeful steps to make your career change a reality. Start doing it rather than thinking about it. Update your CV. Refresh your LinkedIn profile. Let your network know what you’re planning to do next. Meet up with contacts that may be able to support you – directly or indirectly – with your shift. Get up an hour earlier to invest your time in research or forego a little TV to get the work done to make it happen.

People who navigate their way through successful career shifts proactively dialogue with their fears, take positive steps forwards instead of thinking about them, and take personal responsibility for making their career shifts a reality.

Most people are disengaged at work — do you really want to be like most people?

Leave a comment below: How have you stepped into the unknown before? Knowing that you can handle uncertainty, how will this help you move forward in your career change?

Hattie B is a writer and founder of People Like Us, a personal development business dedicated to helping women through their quarter life crises.