Got Fear? How To Overcome Fear of A Career Change.

You’ve been in the same job for 30 years and it looks like there is no end in sight to the dread you feel going to work everyday. You know there’s more to life but you can’t seem to put your finger on it. It’s beginning to look like it will take a catastrophic circumstance for you to finally change course. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear.” In Career Change Fear and How To Overcome It, I pointed out the Top 5 Fears that prevent most people from changing careers. Below are the other 5 fears that commonly get in our way.

6. Fear of emotional pain. Rather than incapacitate us, painful feelings can sharpen our sense of joy and gratitude.

7. Fear of expressing feelings. An authentic life means being willing to express our true feelings to our loved ones, colleagues, and even ourselves. How is it helping you to be afraid of expressing yourself? Make the effort to deliberately reject the notion you need a majority or popular opinion to have a successful life.

Fear Has You Stuck?

8. Fear of intimacy. Emotional intimacy—really being seen by another—can be as scary as sexual intimacy.

9. Fear of the unknown. The unknown can be exciting and vast if we shift our fear to curiosity. Following your passions on your path to profit require you to awaken your creativity by being curious. Are you willing to become curious about your interests? Are you ready to discover what you don’t know about what you don’t know?

10. Fear of success. More responsibility, more attention, pressure to perform can be frightening when we don’t believe in ourselves. SO what’s the antidote for the fear of success? Boosting your self confidence and self-esteem.

But just what is fear anyway? Defined as a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid. Concern, anxiety and anything that causes the feeling of being afraid. Notice here that the FEAR is real or imagined and causes you to experience the feeling of fear. Within the context of career transition, most of the times, the fear is imagined.
We interpret the change we’re facing as a risk, as a challenge to our current existence (although we harbor that feeling of dread when we go to a job where there is no passion and or motivation) and if the Fear wins, we stay where we are, frozen in time, wishing we could move on but never taking action to acquire the knowledge we need to get over the fear of rejection, failure, or even success.
How do you get over the FEAR?

• Get Clarity- what is the fear? What is painful, missing or unsatisfying? 
Choose to focus on the answer you need to get over the fear. For example, if you’re afraid of marketing your new venture, learn the essential pieces of a marketing campaign.
• Visualize where you would like to be! Valerie Young calls it the Life First Work Second Approach to Career change. If you were doing work that added value, meaning and significance to others while being handsomely rewarded, what would that look like?
• Make A Decision. Whether it’s to make peace with your situation OR to finally get the tools you need to change course. In the Secrets of Multimillionaire Entrepreneurs, David Neagle states ” …when you make your decision, say this, “I will follow my desire. I will step into this greatness, and I accept everything that comes along with it.”
• Let Go – Pressing toward a dream or goal you have will require you to let go of what has been holding you in place. If you think you may experience some temporary losses how will you minimize them?
• Take Action – What is the action you can take right now to get you closer to achieving your goal of working at what you love.
When are you going to take that action?

“Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.” ~ Unknown

Would you like to create a life you love doing work you love? If you enjoyed this article and would like to claim your FREE e-book with 5 TIPS to help you find, create and profit from work you love, click on the link to gain access and you’ll also receive my newsletter, filled with helpful tips to help you master the career transition journey and first dibs on all classes and teleseminars.

This post was written by Charlene Nora, your Career Change Mentor and Profit From Your Passions Coach on 5/31/2011.