The #1 Fear Holding You Back From Reaching Your Career Goals

So, you want a new job? Or, maybe you have your sights set on a promotion. Or you want to be a people leader by your third anniversary with the company. Or, you want to launch an online course. Or you want to get a certification that will unlock new work and client opportunities. Or you want to write a book. Or you want to start a podcast. You know what you want, but something is majorly in the way. It’s so in the way, and it has such magnitude, that the fear associated with it is strong enough to make you feel like you’re moving backwards due to the brute force of a windstorm hitting you head on. This fear has the power to keep you right where you are, which might make you feel like you’re taking backwards steps because you’re experiencing the opposite of moving forward toward that career goal. It makes you feel stuck. So stuck, that the thing you want to do, or achieve, or experience is a mere dream.

The #1 Fear Holding You Back from Reaching Your Career Goals

So, what is this colossal, heavier-than-heavy, keep-you-right-where-you-are fear?

The #1 fear holding you back from reaching your career goals is fear of the process.

In other words, you know what you want and where you want to be, but you don’t know how to get there. Or, if you do, the process seems so far from possible, so complex, so costly, so foreign, so scary, so difficult, so time-intensive, that it brings you back to that feeling of a windstorm coming at you as you try, unsuccessfully, to take a step forward. So, you convince yourself that it’s not the right time, or it’s not meant to be, or the worst – it’s not worth it. And, you remain right where you are, where it’s safe and you know what to expect, only with hopes and dreams of what could be…if only it was easy, simpler, smoother, with steps explicitly laid out in front of you like a pretty path up a mountain without any mixed signals or rocky patches.

How to Overcome Fear of the Process to Unlock Progress

Fear is a powerful thing. When fear is triggered within the amygdala in our brains, we go into fight-or-flight mode, and do everything we can to protect ourselves. We may retreat, hide, run. All of these things don’t help us move forward, but that protective instinct does serve a purpose – to help us check in with ourselves to figure out if and when moving forward is safe.

When we feel fear, we don’t feel safe to move forward.

How do we feel safe to move forward? We need confidence, guard rails, resources, information, and often, help – from others, from communities, from teams, from others who have resources and information that we may not have.

If you’re feeling like fear of the process is holding you back, or keeping you from moving forward and staying where it’s safe, here are some ways to unlock progress, forward movement, and growth towards your career goals:

Boost Your Confidence

Boost your confidence through:

1. Knowledge: Get more info, educate yourself, get the facts, research, learn from those who have traveled a similar path or even a small segment of the path

2. Come back to your why: What’s propelling you forward? Why do you want to get there? If you’re not compelled to get there, you won’t put in the effort, and the process will not feel worth it to you.

3. Make sticky requirements less sticky. First, find out if what you think is a barrier or a major hurdle, truly is one. Go back to #1 to get the facts, and find out if these perceived barriers were just that – perceived – and not actual barriers. When you do feel like some of the process elements are sticky, tangled, complex, hard, break them down. Tackle smaller pieces, chip away at larger ones over time, and tackle low hanging fruit for bursts of confidence. Get help with the ones that require deep expertise from others who know this domain and can address it with ease.

4. Visualize. If your visibility into the future feels fuzzy, the process may be weighing you down. Imagine what it would be like to remove the process or to have the process behind you. Ask yourself questions like:

– What will success look like?

– What will be different when I get there?

– How will I celebrate? 

– Who will I be surrounded by?

– What impact will I be making?

– Who will be impacted and how?

5. Slow down. As hard as it is to want to speed up towards that goal, slowing down, being present, and trying to find the right path to achieving the goal will serve you. Try to take time out of it. Use time and deadlines to hold yourself accountable to smaller milestones to experience progress. Lean on #1, knowledge, by asking others what realistic timelines can look like for various segments of the process.

6. Pave your own way. Sometimes fear comes into play because you’re doing something unique, and others don’t have a guidebook about how you can get there. If there’s not a defined path, can you create one using the skills and toolbox you have? Do you need more tools? Where can you get them? Who has them or can help you get them? What knowledge or information can help you feel confident carving out your own path?

7. Build in Breaks and Rest. When you’re set on achieving a goal, and tackling a clunky process, the desire to see the light at the end of the tunnel has the capacity to weigh on you, which can hold you back even more, or prevent you from moving forward while feeling your best. Don’t forget to build in time for rest and take breaks, or as Dr. Srini Pillay, author of Tinker, Dabble, Doodle, Try, says, build in “un-focus time” to recharge your brain and help you focus when you’re doing the hard work.

8. Trust Yourself. Once you’ve gathered all possible information (you’ll likely never be done with gathering all possible info), trust yourself and let your inner compass guide. There’s a reason you set this goal in the first place. Trust it. Don’t let the process get in the way. In fact, throughout the process, you’ll connect with more people, perhaps build a community, boost your knowledge and confidence, and grow your toolbox to equip you to build the best path possible to achieve your goal. Come back to #2, your why, to help feel pulled in the direction of your vision, rather than pushed into a big scary process that is getting in your way.

So, what do you think? When fear of the process gets in the way of your career goals, how do you break down the process to get past it and achieve great things?

Looking for more resources on how to create your meaningful career? Check out The Knock Method career development and free job search downloads.