It’s too scary.
It’s too hard.
People won’t take me seriously.
Starting over would set me back.
I don’t know enough. There are a million reasons we could give ourselves to not go after what we want in our career and personal lives. But, what would be the benefit? When you recite all of these negative things to yourself repeatedly they become paralyzing and are often the cause of you pausing on action that you might have otherwise taken. You’ve got to get uncomfortable to the point that you feel taking a risk is worth it. In 2016 I firmly decided that I wanted to cross over from a Recruiting Coordinator/ Admin to a Recruiter but had no clue how to do it. A recruiting position wasn’t readily available with my company at the time. However, I knew I had maxed out my potential in my current role and needed a new challenge to facilitate my growth. So, I decided I needed some advice. Not the kind of haphazard advice you get from people who have no clue what you do or what you need... but a sound career strategy from a seasoned professional. So, I quieted my nerves and leveraged a good professional relationship I had with someone who put me in touch with the CHRO of a multi-billion dollar company based in New York. To my surprise, after a few brief emails, he agreed to meet with me! I still remember standing outside of his company's office building on that hot summer day. I was incredibly nervous with my hands clutched way too tightly around my purse, wondering if anything would come of this. I was young, not tenured in my career AT ALL and just wasn’t sure what to say. It turns out that this 45 minute meeting changed the entire trajectory of my career. After introductions, he asked me a few pointed questions about my goals and my professional relationships etc. He proceeded to offer advice that was the key to me moving in the direction I felt was right for me. His suggestions were quite simple but I hadn’t thought of any of them previously mainly due to the fog of self doubt. Had I not gone out on a limb and asked for that meeting my professional situation would be totally different right now. Also, had I not been serious about maintaining good relationships in the workplace I would’ve never had the leverage to ask for the introduction in the first place. Everything wasn’t picture perfect after that. I took an initial pay cut to get into recruiting and traded in my comfy 9-5 schedule for one that usually looked more like 7:30-7. I had to leave a team I loved to step into something where I was the newbie. I had to prove myself all over again. But, I knew this step would put me where I wanted to be 5–7 years down the line. Often times sacrifices must be made when you have a vision for what you want your life to look like. I’m so inspired when I talk to candidates who have been able to redefine their careers because it’s a constant reminder that anybody with drive and a plan can do it. So figure out what it is that you actually want to do, ask some trusted contacts to help you devise a strategy and then get ready to pay the price for it. Anything that’s worth having will usually cost you something in the short term (your ego, comfort, etc) but it’s 100% worth it. I started off answering the phones at a recruitment agency in 2012. Now, I am in-house and get to personally partner with VPs and C suite execs to fulfill their team's hiring needs. I meet talented, interesting people daily and have fun doing it. What's next? Who knows. But, whenever people ask if the struggles and time invested in this journey were worth it....I give them a resounding HELL YES!