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Is fear preventing you from living your
Purposeful Career?
Is your resistance to change preventing you
from realising and living your dream role?
Does the thought of the unknown keep you
trapped on the boredom treadmill, staying in
a position that is clearly uninspiring? Or
perhaps you have chosen to just ‘settle’
with something in your life, as the thought
of taking even the smallest of steps towards
making a change seems far too intimidating.
Behind any resistance to change is a small
but significantly powerful 4-letter word:
F-E-A-R.
In our Purposeful Careers intensive coaching
program, we have identified 10 barriers that
commonly trap people within a career they
despise. Let’s briefly look at 3 barriers
(which are all founded on an underlying
fear) that have prevented a person from
exploring and finding a career that they
could feel totally fulfilled in.
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1. |
Fear of the unknown:
you would rather stay with what you are
familiar with, than taking that leap of
faith into something you’re not that
familiar with. |
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2. |
Fear of failure:
rather than taking the time to research,
plan and live the career you want and
can feel truly inspired by, you take the
first job offered for fear of failure
should nothing else come your way. |
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3. |
Fear of rejection:
caught up in the ‘family tradition’ your
career path has been pre-determined by
your parents whose desire is for you to
continue the long line of descendents
working in ‘a particular profession’.
Going against the family’s expectations,
which could prompt negative reactions,
comments and possible rejection,
prevents you from taking a different
career path |
Can you relate to any of these?
If so, you are certainly not alone. Even
with the best of intentions, people still
remain stuck within a role they dislike, or
continue to put up with something they
totally despise because of fear. This is why
in week 11 of the Purposeful Careers program
we spend quite a bit of time exploring
‘Potential Barriers’ and, more importantly,
looking at strategies on how to power
through and overcome these barriers.
If you have accepted the status quo either
in your current role or a situation in your
life, here are six simple steps to support
you in working through your fear to allow
you to move forward with a renewed energy.
Step 1: Acknowledge your fear
Acknowledging exactly what it is that you
are hesitant and fearful of can often give
you a huge sense of relief. Unfortunately
though, if you are not prepared to
acknowledge your fear you will most likely
end up surrendering to it. Fear can hold you
back from fully embracing your authentic
self, preventing you from discovering and
harnessing your natural talents and skills,
thus keeping you from doing what you are
truly good at and having a career that you
love.
Ask yourself the following questions and
write down your answers on a piece of paper:
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What is it that I am fearful of? |
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What is it costing me? |
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Are my thoughts rational or am I only
assuming that these things may happen? |
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Is this likely to happen? |
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What is the worst thing that can happen?
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Is
it really going to be the end of the
world? |
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Step 2:
Get specific
Rather than trying to avoid your fears and
letting them continue to block you from
moving forward, begin to build some
strategies that will allow you to begin
breaking down the issues around your fears.
Look at your list of fears and ask yourself:
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What specific steps can I begin to take
right now that will allow me to start
facing my fears? |
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What specific resources do I have
accessible to me that will allow me to
begin breaking down my fears? |
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How will I start using those resources
today? |
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What specific resources do I need to
find/receive that will allow me to work
through my fear? |
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What steps can I take to enable me to
obtain those resources? |
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When will I implement these steps in
order to leverage these resources? |
Step 3:
Validate yourself
Allowing yourself to continue believing that
you won’t be able to cope with what ‘might’
happen will keep you stuck in your fear.
Stop reinforcing that unhelpful belief
(through concentrating on the negative), but
rather focus on the positive aspects by
looking at situations in your life where you
have been able to accomplish things. As an
NLP coach I’m particularly fond of the
saying ‘Where your attention goes, your
energy flows.’ Just make sure your attention
is centred on your strengths – not your
weaknesses and fears.
Ask yourself:
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What have I achieved in my life and
career that I am really proud of? |
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What obstacles or challenges have I
faced and been able to work through? |
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What personal resources/characteristics
were needed in order for me to achieve
this? |
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What personal strengths have I leveraged
to enable me to overcome those
challenges? |
Validating areas in your life and career
will allow you to recognise that you do have
the unique talents, strengths and
characteristics that will allow you to work
through any challenges, obstacles or fears.
Step 4:
Take action
A fitting quotation from Herber J. Grant
comes to mind: ‘Knowledge is of no value
unless you put it into practice.’
Even if you have worked vigilantly through
the first 3 steps the exercises will be of
no real value to you unless you take action.
Commit to taking action today, even if you
begin with small steps.
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What step will you take today that will
allow you to start taking action? |
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When will you do this? |
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What accountability factor will you put
in place that ensures you take this
step? |
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Make a firm commitment to yourself and stick
to it!
Step 5:
Become anchored
With our hectic schedules often seeing us
juggle a myriad of tasks, it can be easy to
begin listening to that inner voice of doubt
(which is fuelled by fear), particularly
when we are confronted with different
challenges. It is therefore imperative that
you remain focused on exactly what it is you
want to achieve so as not to slip back into
the grip of fear.
Keep your eyes focused firmly on your
outcome and what it is you want to achieve.
Step 6:
Remain vigilant
Monitor yourself constantly and STOP any
negative thoughts that any underlying ‘fear’
can provoke. Revisit the previous steps to
remind yourself of the obstacles and
challenges you have been able to work
through previously, and re-validate your
strengths and talents.
Begin and end your day with empowering
exercises such as affirmations, journaling,
meditation, or print out your favourite
inspirational quotes and place them in a
prominent position so that you are reminded
of them on a daily basis.
So what steps are you going to take today
that will enable you to work through your
fears? If you feel you could benefit from
additional support, or you believe you could
benefit from having an accountability
partner working with you on this, I do hope
you will consider working with me.
Till next time, here’s
to powering through your fears in order to
reclaim passion and motivation in your
work!
To your success!
Annemarie
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A personal note from Annemarie...
Friday 4, August 2006
