I’m in my favorite coffee shop listening to a pair of experienced and successful female business owners give advice to another pair of new female business owners.  It is clear the new pair are still exploring the idea of opening a business and they are seeking counsel.  The more seasoned pair is not holding back on sharing advice, resources, and even customers. This conversation made me feel inspired, empowered, and supported… and I’m just eavesdropping.  It reminded me how important it is to seek advice when you are trying to decide whether or not to make a career change, and how exciting and terrifying the process can be no matter how badly you want a change.

Sidebar: Women inspiring women- Yes Queen!  More of this every day please!

In April 2022 I decided to leave my full-time, very secure, paycheck-every-month, and no chance-of-being-fired job as a career counselor in higher education to blaze my own trail in private practice.  The beginning stages of this journey were humbling, exhilarating, terrifying, and filled with a lot of uncertainty.  Starting your own business is next-level stressful, but any job change is stressful.

A lot of emotions are tied up in making a change.  This even applies if you are leaving a job you hate to pursue a job you love.  You still might feel bad about leaving your co-workers, customers, clients, students, patients, or whatever was actually good about your terrible job.  And on top of it all, you are taking a chance.  We’ve all heard those stories about people who have changed jobs and jumped from the frying pan into the flame (or however that saying goes).  When we change jobs, we are deciding based on the potential of your new opportunity.  We are making a big decision based on a projection, not facts, so there is a bit of chance involved.  This makes the unknown STRESSFUL.

For some people, the unknown is actually more upsetting than their known, hated employment situation.  According to Nicholas Lore in his novel The Pathfinder, deciding to make a change (even a change you have wanted for a loooooooooooooong time) is terrifying.  It involves going against your instinct to keep everything at homeostasis in order to reach your dream.  Have you ever tried to convince yourself you aren’t hungry when you are starving?  Yeah…it’s really hard to go against your instincts.

So what do we do?  Do we let all these worries and stresses and instincts keep us from change?  Or do we take a chance?  In my opinion, it all comes down to values.  Do you value maintaining homeostasis, or do you value the potential to make things better?  The choice is yours.  I know I made the right one 😉.

If you would like to work with a career coach to help you make a professional change, I’d love to hear from you!  Click here to schedule a consultation.  You can also feel free to check out my Find Your Dream Job Course for more LinkedIn tips.  If you enjoyed this post, scroll down to subscribe and my blog will be sent straight to your inbox 😊!