Are you positively challenging your current ways of working? Have you thought of improving your life? Is fear holding you back from making a change?
“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” _ Steve Jobs
Irrespective of my current job/status, there is always a better place. No matter how good my methods may appear, I always assume there is a better way. So, I dare to learn, I dare to ask the odd questions, and I dare to take chances. I have learned to enjoy challenging the status quo. I often hear people talk of “the fear of the unknown,” but my experience has proven that the unknown usually holds more bliss in store for me. So, moving into the unknown is always a worthwhile venture, and as the saying goes, nature loves courage.
I must admit that there were times I held back from acting even when everything in me prompted me to make a move. The barriers that held me back were the fear of failure/uncertainty and perfectionism. However, I have become very conscious of these barriers, so I am deliberate in overcoming them.
The several times I changed jobs, ventured into something new, or adopted a new way of doing things, well-meaning individuals whose opinions I respect expressed concerns about me moving into a terrain of uncertainty. I learned to manage this by only informing after execution to avoid being advised to stick with the known ‘working’ status quo. So, for example, if I told a friend I wanted to resign from a well-paying job, the typical response would be to advise against the move. However, if I told the same friend that I had resigned, the only option would be to wish me well in my new endeavor, which is the forward-thinking energy I need.
There was this time that I had an idea to do something different, and the fear of uncertainty about the future outcome crept in, and I became hesitant. After some reflection, these questions came to mind: What purpose will this idea serve if executed? Did I create the idea? Did I create the world? Did I create, or do I have control over the future? Did I know for sure that I would be where I am today years back? What is the worst that could happen? Once I answered these questions, the fear diminished, and I made a move, and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
There are popular clichés that are against challenging a working status quo: “Don’t rock the boat,” “If it is not broken, don’t try to fix it.” However, I tend to rock the boat a lot due to my belief that it is only in stepping out of my comfort zone that I find the place called “better,” and this has always turned out right for me.
What are you afraid of doing? What questions are you afraid of asking or answering? If you were to ask yourself one seemingly stupid question that will radically shift your thinking and perception towards taking that bold step, what would it be?
