What do you want to see happen in your career in the next two to five years?
Take a moment to write down a few ideas. What comes to mind first?
Now that you have a rough picture of what you want, let me ask you a question.
How big is your goal? Were you able to imagine a big change?
If your goal was pretty modest or similar to your current life, let’s take a look at where you find your safe zone.
MY SAFE ZONE
When do you feel safest?
It’s natural that we are most comfortable and relaxed in a familiar environment doing things we’ve done before.
We feel more competent doing a job we’ve done a thousand times than learning something new.
Our bodies and minds naturally feel calmer around those we know well with familiar social cues.
We start to see our current life as safe, comfortable, and one of the best options.
We have a bias towards the familiar, but does that mean we’re in the best place for us?
WHEN DO I FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE
Sometimes when we’re making the quickest progress towards our goals we feel absolutely, positively out of our depth.
We are uncomfortable.
We’re facing huge emotional challenges like finding the courage to speak up for ourselves, feeling the frustration of learning new things, and asking ourselves a lot of questions about whether we’re on the right path when everything is new.
Our bodies and emotions are screaming at us – go back! What are you doing out here exposed, away from the comforts of home?
This is exactly the kind of work that brings us to a new level in our career.
It is emotionally challenging. It takes courage. It feels wrong!
That’s when we have to ask ourselves – Is this discomfort coming from personal growth? Is the familiar really better, or just more comfortable?
FINDING SUPPORT
We all hit a moment when we embark on a new journey, whether that’s finding a new job, booking that tour, or finding a new place for our artistic work, where our bodies and minds hit the brakes at the same time as we’ve been pressing the accelerator!
We want to break out into a new level in our careers but we’ve left our comfort zone far behind and we feel out to sea.
That’s when we need to gather our supporters. Whether that’s a mentor, a coach, or a team of supporters like the iCadenza Insider’s Club, at this moment you need someone who can see the far shore.
They understand why you’ve set out and they can help you through the inevitable discomfort that comes with striking out in a new direction.
Don’t let discomfort keep you trapped in the status quo or thinking small in your work.
You can do great things. Hold onto your inspiration and your vision as you head out on your new adventure!
