Why are we so afraid of our career dreams coming true? Looking for a new job? Trying a new business venture? Expanding our hobby into extra income?

At work, we are so swamped with the tasks at hand, the minutia, that it can be hard to think beyond the current project we have in front of us.  But if we don’t take the time to hope ,to plan, to actively think about where we want to be in the future–what and where we consciously want to be–the next time we look up to take a breath….5, 10, 15 years later…..we will still be working on a similar project. Frustrated, bored, tired, limping slowly but busily through the day. Satisfied? I don’t think so.

Last week on the TV cooking contest show Chopped I heard a young chef, right before she knew she won, say something like “your dreams should be so big they scare you, or they aren’t big enough.”  Are you willing to stretch this far? It made me think, that is for sure.

If we risk to take the stretch, we make ourselves vulnerable for criticism, debate, failure, which can be fearful. But, we also open ourselves to expressing ourselves, finding our voice, freedom, happiness, and hopefully yes–financial rewards.

Maybe you can’t plan an entire life or career change now.  So take tiny steps–join a networking group, take a class, find a mentor, research a new career, make a short-term list of goals to accomplish in the next 6 months. Hopefully in that time you can make some smaller tweaks in your job which will give yourself the confidence to keep moving ahead.

The journey continues.

C