Fear.
So many clients come to me out of fear. They say things like:
"I know I need a new career but I'm afraid." "I'm afraid I will never find my passion." "I want a new job, but I'm afraid I won't get one." "I need to do something I love but I'm afraid it won't happen." "I deserve a promotion but I'm afraid to ask." "I want to switch departments but I'm afraid they'll say no." "I want to start my own business but I'm totally overwhelmed."
SO. MUCH. FEAR.
All the fears. Which are totally rational, by the way. Making any change is scary. Making career changes, where your livelihood is at stake? Freakin' terrifying.
I wish I had a magic wand and I could make their fear disappear. But I don't and I can't. Does that mean that they are stuck with this career-crippling fear forever?
Absolutely not. IF they decide to tackle it head on.
Why Your Career Can't Be on Autopilot
Okay, I know you're hungover and your boss is being a pain and your Zoom keeps crashing, again, but you gotta focus. On you. Yup. Right now.
If you're cruising along thinking that careers just grow, blossom, and "work out" on their own, it's wake-up call time.
Your career is like that nifty succulent on your desk. It doesn't need to be replanted every day, but it does need care, attention, and sometimes water. Are you drinking enough water, by the way?
What I'm getting at here is that your career is your job. You have to work at it, at work. Make sense? You gotta drive this boat. You gotta do this thing, and the best way is to do it little by little.
The last few years have been a special kind of dumpster fire. There are some terrible things afoot. Employment rates continue to fluctuate wildly, and I know that can be terrifying. However, there is also some good stuff coming out of all this too.
No matter your job, career, or employment status at the minute, you should know that you absolutely can accelerate your career right now.
Remember, a single job is not your career. Your career is a collection of those jobs, freelance experiences, and businesses. So while you may be unemployed, taking a gig to tide you over, on furlough, or doing just fine, there are actions you can implement right now to get things on track and actually accelerate your career.
Here's the truth: if you want your career to be bigger, to be better, to do more than before, you need to take action. Not huge actions. Small, sometimes totally imperfect, big-time baby steps.
How to Move Through Fear (Five Steps)
Confronting your fear can be, well, frightening. How's that for meta? Follow these steps and you'll be well on your way to moving past those big fear blocks.
Step 1: Congratulate yourself for considering change
Honestly, it's a big deal. So many people never even get to the point where they move past being unhappy to actually making a decision to do something about it. You're ahead of the pack already.
Step 2: Accept that you're scared, acknowledge the fear
Fear is real and it's intense. Trying to pretend you're not scared doesn't help anyone or anything. Once you sit back, acknowledge that you're scared, but decide to move forward anyway, that's where things get real.
Step 3: Visualize the outcome of NOT taking any action
A good friend clued me into this concept when I was having trouble moving past something because I was frightened. And man oh man was she right. Find a quiet space, clear your head for a second, and just visualize. Visualize what will happen if you do nothing. How will you feel one month, six months, one year from now? The results of inaction are far more likely to be scarier than anything moving forward might bring.
Step 4: Take your time and be intentional
Now that you've decided to make something happen, don't just go running around the office yelling "BURN IT DOOOOWWWWN!" Take a few more moments to decide on a plan of action. You don't have to have it all figured out, but you do need at least a broad-strokes plan. You want to make your next move carefully and intentionally. But here's the cool thing: your next move is tiny. Like sooo little. Shhhh tiiiiinnnnyyy.
Step 5: Commit to doing one very small thing toward the change that scares you
I mean tiny. Minuscule. Really freaking small. Something like: putting some time on your calendar to research salaries for that role you have your eye on. Just block out 30 minutes on your calendar. That's it.
Write out a list of five people who inspire you. On a Post-it. Stick it on your desk. That's it. Just five.
Find an article to message the manager of that cool department you want to break into. That's all. Just find the article.
One TINY step will lead to another and another, and soon enough you'll have taken one actual full-sized step.
That's it. You, my friend, are now officially on your way and walking through all that fear. Well done you.
Ten Daily Actions That Accelerate Your Career (Despite the Fear)
I don't want you to get bogged down in a major career overhaul. I want you to get moving on small actions. All it takes is: one goal, one action, each day.
None of these take a ton of work, but their impact is huge. Give one or all a shot and see how far you go. And don't forget to hydrate.
1. Network like crazy
I don't care what industry you work in, what role you have, what your goals are. You HAVE TO network.
Good news is there are so many ways to network. You can absolutely find one that works for you. Totally online? Fine. Only in person? Great, pandemics permitting. Speed networking at hyperspecific conferences? You do you. Just do something.
Also be sure to choose a consistent action like: take out one person for coffee a month, ask for two informational interviews per week, or email one industry insider each day.
Keeping your network up-to-date, warm, and dynamic is genuinely the best thing you can do for your career. Keeping yourself top-of-mind, keeping yourself informed, keeping yourself connected can do exponentially more than a bag full of specialized skills and deep-dive know-how.
The old adage "it's not what you know but who you know" truly is a force. People recommend other people that they know, like, and trust. Someone else may know more than you, but if you know the right person, the job is yours. The project is yours. The corner office is yours.
Continue to build that know, like, and trust factor throughout the year and your career will expand in leaps and bounds.
2. Follow one industry leader, innovator, or insider each day on some social platform
LinkedIn is fantastic obviously, but Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram can be great too. Especially if you're in a creative field. But wait, there's more. Don't be a passive lurker. Interact with them.
Get to know them and they'll get to know you. You'll be surprised what kind of mentorship and opportunity can come from being actively engaged on socials.
Another old adage to take in here is: the only way to get better at tennis is by playing someone better than you.
This goes for most things. To become better at something, anything, you need to be challenged, you need to be questioned, you need to have to fend off a few serves flying at your face at full force.
The best way to be challenged is through mentorship, guidance, and inspiration. You can find those things by becoming immersed in the worlds of leaders, innovators, and insiders within your industry.
Follow them, interact with them, get to know what they know, and ideally get them to know you.
3. Have one priority to-do
What do you need to accomplish at work, in your job search, job growth, or career learning each day that needs your attention but has a habit of getting shuffled to the back burner?
Start each day by knocking out one to-do. If it's a big project at work, maybe you hop on it before you even look at your emails. If it's a class that you're taking, how about booking a conference room for 30 minutes and completing a module before lunch?
4. Research
Spend a few minutes each week researching your industry and your role. Check out industry news, research your company's competitors, research the salary for your role, research how and what tech will be changing your role.
Information and learning are key to growing. You can't cut a path to your career if you don't know the landscape.
Knowledge truly is power. The more you know about your role within the industry and what makes you unique and impactful, the more bargaining power you have when it comes to getting the initiatives you want, being on the team you want, and getting the money you deserve.
Spend this week learning all you can, but don't let it only be this week. Keep on top of this info. Don't let it go stale. Make sure you're in the know and use that knowledge.
5. Get on the calendar
Here's one you only need two minutes to do. Today.
Book some time on your manager's calendar to talk to her about your goals. Don't wait for review time. Ask how you can proactively grow in your role. Ask for active mentorship.
Unless you are vocal, your manager may have NO IDEA that you want more. They might be so buried in their own deliverables lists that they aren't paying attention to the fact that you haven't taken on more responsibility since last year. Your manager should want to help you grow. If they are resistant, they may not be the best manager for you.
6. Sign yourself up to learn a new transferable skill
It could be software, hardware, communications, leadership, almost anything. Ask HR if there's a company learning and development program. Or maybe they reimburse some tuition? Or they'll let you expense that one online course.
If no, find something you're itching to learn that grows your skills list and find a class you can afford and register yourself ASAP.
If you are currently looking, look at the job descriptions for that next great gig you have your eye on. Is there a skill gap you need to fill? There are a million inexpensive and free options for e-learning. Research the course, certificate, or program you need and get started.
7. This year's goal
Write down one thing you want to accomplish in your career or on the job in the remainder of this year. Then after your big, fat, juicy thing, write down all the teeny, tiny things it's going to take to get it done.
When you see it laid out in bite-sized steps, it stops seeming so overwhelmingly large and wayyyyyy more doable. Now put some time on your calendar, daily, to get those small steps done.
8. Next year's goal
Write down one thing you want to accomplish in the beginning of next year. Then follow the same process as your end-of-year project and make a plan to get it done.
9. Read
Read. Read more. And then read something else. It can be books, articles, magazines, journals, whatever is relevant for your industry and even some things that aren't. Have you seen the 1980s opus Working Girl? If not, go do it now. Because Tess, the lead, works her way to the top by reading and being smart enough to put the pieces together. Also, you can just watch it for the hair.
10. Update
Every week do some updating of your LinkedIn, resume, and portfolio. There's a few reasons.
First, when you are ready to jump ship, you'll be all good to go. Second, when you do decide to job hunt, you won't tip off your boss. Nothing is more of a red flag than an employee who suddenly has an updated profile. Third, this will help you keep track of your latest and greatest accomplishments so that when you talk to management about that raise, it will be all right there.
If you are currently looking, then this needs to be priority number one. You have to sell yourself into the gig you want, and these are your sales materials.
The Bottom Line on Fear and Action
Again, none of these actions take a ton of work, but they do take action. Actions need action. Get it? See what I did there?
All kidding aside, take the tiny steps and they will lead to some major career growth and acceleration.
Here's what I know after years of coaching people through career transitions: fear never fully goes away. You don't wait for the fear to disappear before you act. You acknowledge it, you respect it, and then you act anyway.
The secret isn't eliminating fear. The secret is making the steps so small that fear can't stop you.
Research salaries for 30 minutes? You can do that scared. Email one person in your network? You can do that scared. Follow one industry leader on LinkedIn? You can do that scared. Update one section of your resume? You can do that scared.
Each tiny action builds momentum. Each small step proves to yourself that you're capable of more than fear wants you to believe. And before you know it, you've taken a dozen tiny steps that add up to one giant leap.
Your career won't grow on autopilot. It needs you to tend to it, even when you're scared. Especially when you're scared.
So congratulate yourself for even considering change. Acknowledge that you're terrified. Visualize what happens if you do nothing. Make a tiny plan. And then take one very small action.
That's all it takes to start walking through the fear.
You've got this.
Yours in ‘grow, grow, grow your career boat’ goodness,
EBS
