I’m challenging an old way of thinking that holds too many of us back.

I have conversations, almost daily, with career women who are out there doing amazing things in their professional lives. These women are achieving, making great money, & having an incredible impact on the organizations they work for.

They talk to me about wanting to move their careers into different directions or wanting to jump into an exciting new project that they know has huge potential to be a solid career move.

And the next thing they say is…

>> I’m not sure if I should do it because what if it doesn’t work out? 

>> What if I can’t actually do it?

>> What if I fail?

Here’s my question…

Why do we often assume that if we step into a new direction and try something that we’ve never done before (but that feels exciting and is that thing we want to do) that it’s not going to work out?

Maybe in the past you tried something new and it didn’t work out the way you anticipated or thought it should. And now you’ve painted every future situation with the same brush and that’s the first place your mind goes, without really being conscious of it.

But I’d really challenge that way of thinking and ask why choose to believe that angle instead of choosing to believe that it could work out exactly the way that you hope. And it could actually be the best move you’ve ever made in your career.

Why do we choose to believe that something’s going to be a failure instead of taking the exact opposite approach?

Because, to me, that positive or successful outcome is just as much of a possibility as it not going the way you’d want it to go.

Here’s my suggestion…

Shift your thoughts.  Just simply shift your thoughts.

If you find yourself wanting to make a career move and you’re holding yourself back because you’re worried about things not going well, just choose to think the opposite. 

When you make that choice to think ‘this may actually be really, really good for me’, it opens up the door for all kinds of possibilities. 

Make career moves that feel like you’re growing and expanding and away from those that feel contractive or small. 

I always talk to my clients about the idea of moving towards things that feel expansive. 

When you’re in that space of expansion, the decisions you make and the actions you take are very different than when you’re in a contractive way of thinking. So, if you find yourself wanting to step forward and do something professionally that you’ve never done before, shift your way of thinking and ask yourself this question:

If I knew with certainty that this will work out in my favour and that I couldn’t fail, what decision would I make?

Choose whether or not to go for it from this mindset as opposed to from a place of fear which will keep you stuck, small, and in a comfort zone that doesn’t allow you to grow. 

But, I know that just shifting your thoughts can be tough. So, what if you do find yourself in the ‘what if I fail’ headspace and you’re having a hard time shaking it?

Here’s my advice…

Don’t stop there. Follow that thought all the way through.

Ok, so you made a choice, took a chance, said yes to that new role and it turned out not to be the best choice for you. Let’s imagine that does happen.

What are you going to do next? 

Well, my friend, all you need to do is make a new choice & go do something else.

Keep it moving. 

The wrong choice doesn’t mean you’re stuck there for the rest of your career or the rest of your life. You can make a new choice. Pretty simple. 

Don’t let that fear of things not working out hold back your growth, progress, or success. 

Always move towards that feeling of expansion. Allow yourself to experience it through both the career moves that work out well and the ones that could have gone better. Allow this to be a way for you to learn, grow, and move forward on a continuous basis.

Either way, win or lose, you got this.

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Did you hear?? 

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Learn the 10 strategies you can use to help position yourself for a promotion, even if playing politics isn’t your thing. Go to www.cindyharveyonline.com/playbook and grab your copy today!

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Cindy Harvey is a Leadership Coach and Founder of Amelia Dee, a career strategy company for women. She has coached hundreds of clients on leveraging the power of energy & mindset to create success at work as well as designing a magnetic professional brand to make their next career move a breeze.

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