Stepping Out on Fear and Faith
The look your friends give you when youâre full of excuses. Donât block your blessing.
In June of this year I will be approaching my 10 month work anniversary with a company I have grown to love. A few months ago, however, I started questioning that love along with other misplaced emotions. I began to feel trapped â or even stuck â in my current position as an Executive Assistant and I didnât know where the next few months would take me. I knew I wanted a change, but I was (and still am) scared to take that leap of faith. I watched friends and colleagues around me struggle with the same sense of restlessness and I began to wonder â is this a âmillennial thing?â
I had been hearing about millennials and our bad manners, horrible work ethic, and money-hungry lifestyles since high school. I was previously inclined to believe that those who talked down on millennials were mistaken and simply misunderstood our nature. We are young and living in a world that is changing right before our eyes. We are seeing more technological advances at a faster rate then probably our parents and grandparents combined (this is just my speculation). And because of all this, we are spoiled. We want what we want when we want it, and we canât be told it wonât happen because weâve seen the results. Weâve seen over 20 different social media platforms come and go over the course of our formative years. Weâve seen the rise and fall of instant celebrities from YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and the like. We know what potential there is for us young people â and we all want it.
This reasoning alone is what scares me. There is so much room out there for self-growth and entrepreneurship and self-marketing. YouTube stars make it look easy â sit in front of a camera for a few minutes a day and become a sudden celebrity, and make some quick money in the process. I am so inclined to believe that if I simply market myself to the right people and get my face out there for the world to see, I can become successful in less than a year. ButâŚif thatâs the case then why am I so scared to try?
I was fortunate enough to pick up a temporary position at a well-known educational company after graduating college. A few months after, I transitioned into my current position as the gatekeeper for a few executives at one of the largest multifamily housing groups in the nation. I live comfortably for someone who graduated a year ago, and I spend my time in one of the best cities in the world for marketing and networking. On paper, I sound great. In reality Iâm scared of settling, yet too nervous to branch out on my own and discover my own passions. Taking a risk, for me, is like already calling myself a failure. If I step out of my comfort zone and leave my cushy job with great benefits and minimal workload I will not only be stepping out onto a ledge, I will ultimately fall off of that ledge and land smack on the concrete below.
A lot of my friends share these same thoughts. We see the goal in sight and, for the most part, we know what we have to do to obtain it; but most of us are still thanking the heavens that we got the job we currently have and to lose that would be the ultimate sin. We remember what it was like to sit in career services and skim the pages of job boards daily with just a few weeks leading up to graduation. We remember those late night conversations where we shared our fears of not being able to find work or a place to live or a network of professional mentors. We donât want to go back there, but for some of us it needs to be done.
I know that if I stay where I am, I will get more than comfortable. I will make a career out of an entry-level job because it âworks.â And for a time it will work and it will be safe and it will be easy. But then I will grow more restless and eager and my potential will be bursting at the seams, begging to come out. I have so many different interests, passions, ideas and aspirations â and I know my friends do as well. To stifle those traits would be an insult to both us and the world. Iâve been thinking about what I personally need to do to reach that next level of success â should I move to a new city? Maybe. Should I switch jobs? Probably. Should I venture out of my comfort zone and begin to surround myself with dreamers who have the same mindset and positive outlook that I am seeking? Definitely.
Things take time, but the more we sit and think and plan and plot, the more time slips away. It can be difficult to take a leap of faith, but it has to be done. As the old adage goes, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I can personally say I have reached the top of my insanity meter and I am ready to let go and step out on faith. I have to try new things, take new steps in different directions and forge new paths. Change can be difficult, but well worth the fear. I am officially declaring that I am ready to face that fear and expect new results. On that same note, I want everyone else who is feeling lost or hopeless, or even too comfortable to take a step out on fear and faith and make the changes they want in both their professional and personal lives. I believe it will be worth the fear.
