Musings from Career True North
Career-Direction GPS: Transforming the the Unknown into Your Guide
by Michele Fawcett-Long, Career True North
Do you find yourself unable to make the next move to find a new career direction?
Discerning your way from where you are now to a career that fits can feel nerve-wracking and overwhelming. Where do you start? What are your passions? What jobs fit you? Where are you going? How do you get there?
Instead of inviting you forward, do all these things that you don’t know keep you from making a change?
Both looking for a new career direction and working your way there require trekking into the unknown, and many of us really don’t like the unknown. If we’re honest with ourselves, it’s frightening and out of our control. And just so, unknown.
If avoiding the unknown is keeping you from finding and following a new career direction, you are not alone. And you absolutely don’t have to stay there. If you read on, I’ll show you some easy and effective exercises you can use to transform the unknown from your foe into your guide on your journey to your new career.
Why the Unknown Seems Scary
A lot of us start from here: Unknown = Scary! And Bad!
Why do you think this is?
Maybe you’re saying, “Because I don’t know what’s going to happen – duh!” But let’s dig a little deeper.
I think that the unknown can be scary because we tell ourselves we actually DO know what’s going to happen, and that it’s going to be something bad.
In reality, the unknown is simply what the word says – something not yet known. Lots of things could happen when we go into new territory, and we can’t see or make sense of them until we actually experience them.
But sitting with the unknown is a really vulnerable place for most of us. It puts our reptile brain, which is constantly scanning for threats in our environment, on high alert. What if those things we can’t yet see are harmful? What if leaving where we are and moving into the unknown takes us somewhere worse than where we are?
Because it’s hard to sit with these questions and the fear associated with not knowing the answers, we tell ourselves that we actually DO know what’s going to happen – we default to “unknown = bad.” And with that equation, we now know what to expect – we know it won’t work or we know something bad will happen. And we do this so quickly and unconsciously that we just believe it to be true.
Somehow the rotten feeling generated by believing “bad things are going to happen” or “it will never work” seems better than discomfort of being with not knowing.
But “unknown = bad” can leave you stuck. And miserable.
Maybe Unknown = Good?
Play around with this a little bit. If a future path is truly unknown, could good things possibly happen?
If yes, then it’s possible that “unknown = good.”
Or is it possible that neutral things can happen in the unknown? That you’ll have experiences that are no worse than ordinary or boring?
So “unknown = neutral” could also be true.
Or maybe there will be funny or ludicrous moments. Perhaps things could be lucrative and abundant.
Maybe “unknown = funny!” or “unknown = wow!”
If we let the unknown just be not-known, then we throw the doors wide open. Your exploration of a new career direction – your journey into the unknown – can become a time of possibility, potential, and opportunity. And you might just have some fun adventures as you learn to let the unknown guide you along the way.
Befriending the Unknown
Now that you’ve seen that the unknown can be good, bad or indifferent, the next time you feel the unknown bearing down like a freight train, try this:
Start by Noticing
Now ask
- Notice that you’re fearing the unknown. Just notice.
- Accept that you’re fearing or having any other uncomfortable feeling. Just accept the feelings. It’s OK.
- Notice what you’re thinking as you feel. Just notice your thoughts.
- Is what you’re thinking completely true?
- If there’s any possibility your answer is “no,” ask if there are other possibilities that might be just as true or truer.
- If yes, see if you can come up with a few other ideas.
- Just notice the ideas.
- Breathe a couple of times.
Now Take a Step
- Take a small step toward your new career direction and invite your thoughts and feelings to come along with you. Just pick a very small task that will move you forward and do it.
- What can you see, feel, taste, touch, smell or know in this moment that you couldn’t before? What is interesting from this new vantage point? Where does the vantage point want to lead you? What kind of moment did you step into – good, bad or indifferent?
- Now take another small step, again taking your thoughts and feelings with you.
- From this vantage point, what can you see, feel, taste, touch, smell or know now that you couldn’t before? What is interesting from this new vantage point? Where does the vantage point want to lead you? What kind of moment did you step into – good, bad or indifferent?
- Find a new very small step toward your new career direction and take it. See what happens next. Repeat.
And Now You’re Doing It
You are on your way. You are taking steps into the unknown and noticing what you find along the way. This is all you ever have to do. Your small steps will add up. As you go, what you find in each previously unknown moment will be your guide, and each small step will transport you toward new career.
And if you could use additional guidance on your career direction trek or just have questions, I’m always happy to talk.
To identify some next steps toward your new career direction, you are also welcome to download your free e-guide, Tracking Your True North Career Passions