“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.” It’s a well-known quote by the philosopher Henry David Thoreau. While I’m not one to ever disagree with a mind like Thoreau’s, I do want to offer an additional perspective that I think Mr. Thoreau would agree with. Sometimes in order to follow your dreams, you have to follow your fears. Nothing of value is ever achieved without some level of struggle. Career goals are no exception. That’s what makes the goal worth the risk and the struggle.There are so many “what if” scenarios in job hunting that make people afraid. What if you’ve been out of the game for a long time and lost your confidence? What if you got fired from your last job and don’t know how to explain it to your next employer? What if you have been stuck in the same job for 10 years and feel lost and hopeless? The list can go on and on. Most of the time, we let these fears create self-doubt and disappointment because we give credibility to them. Well, there actually is a great deal of credibility in them, but not in the way that you might think. Fear serves a purpose, but the purpose isn’t to make you afraid. The purpose of fear is to propel you into changing. It does this by acting as a warning sign that you have reached a limit.Experiencing fear means that you have stopped growing in that area of your life. In order to continue to grow, you must get outside of your comfort zone and do something different. This requires facing your fear. For example, maybe the idea of rejoining the workforce after raising your kids for ten years terrifies you. There is so much competition out there that is younger and sharper. Why would someone hire you over them? When this fearful self-talk creeps in and you start to feel that discomfort, that anxiety of putting yourself out there, well, that’s actually when the magic happens. That's when you blossom. For that reason, my advice to you is this: whatever scares you the most, that’s exactly what I want you to do. Yes, you heard me right. Go confidently in the direction of your fears. If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you. Fear can be your greatest teacher. Fear can offer you opportunity, if you let it. Fear can make you work harder, care more and in the end, achieve more.
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.” It’s a well-known quote by the philosopher Henry David Thoreau. While I’m not one to ever disagree with a mind like Thoreau’s, I do want to offer an additional perspective that I think Mr. Thoreau would agree with. Sometimes in order to follow your dreams, you have to follow your fears. Nothing of value is ever achieved without some level of struggle. Career goals are no exception. That’s what makes the goal worth the risk and the struggle.There are so many “what if” scenarios in job hunting that make people afraid. What if you’ve been out of the game for a long time and lost your confidence? What if you got fired from your last job and don’t know how to explain it to your next employer? What if you have been stuck in the same job for 10 years and feel lost and hopeless? The list can go on and on. Most of the time, we let these fears create self-doubt and disappointment because we give credibility to them. Well, there actually is a great deal of credibility in them, but not in the way that you might think. Fear serves a purpose, but the purpose isn’t to make you afraid. The purpose of fear is to propel you into changing. It does this by acting as a warning sign that you have reached a limit.Experiencing fear means that you have stopped growing in that area of your life. In order to continue to grow, you must get outside of your comfort zone and do something different. This requires facing your fear. For example, maybe the idea of rejoining the workforce after raising your kids for ten years terrifies you. There is so much competition out there that is younger and sharper. Why would someone hire you over them? When this fearful self-talk creeps in and you start to feel that discomfort, that anxiety of putting yourself out there, well, that’s actually when the magic happens. That's when you blossom. For that reason, my advice to you is this: whatever scares you the most, that’s exactly what I want you to do. Yes, you heard me right. Go confidently in the direction of your fears. If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you. Fear can be your greatest teacher. Fear can offer you opportunity, if you let it. Fear can make you work harder, care more and in the end, achieve more.