"I've had a lot of worries in my life; most of them never happened." - Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain)
As that beloved American writer, Mark Twain, points out in this quotation, our lives are often filled with worry.
We worry about how our kids will turn out. We worry about whether we'll keep our job. We worry about whether we'll get a job.
We worry about whether our savings plan will recover. We worry about what that pain in our right side means.
In short, we fill our days with worry and concern.
Even when times are good, we worry. What about you? Think about all the worries you've spent time on this past week, this past month, this past year.
Then think about all the things you worried about over the years. You may be appalled to realize how much time you've spent worrying compared to the actual events which may have happened related to your worry.
In these economic times, many people allow their worry to prevent them from going for their dream career. They excuse their inaction based on what they see happening around them.
Here are some of the key excuses people use to keep themselves from going for it.
Excuse Number One: It's not the right time to make a move.
This excuse keeps you in your comfort zone. It allows you the shallow comfort of pretending you don't have the guts or perseverance or talent to go for a meaningful career. It really says you believe you are at the mercy of external circumstances.
The great achievers have never lived from that belief. No matter what the circumstances, they did what they wanted and needed to do.
Their only question was whether the timing was right for their individual life. Then they proceeded to pursue their purpose.
Excuse Number Two: What if I can't do it?
This excuse takes worry to an exponential degree. It stops you in your tracks before you even start. If a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, this excuse stops you from taking the very first step.
Instead of using this excuse to stop you from having a meaningful career, think about how your life could change if you did take that first step, and then another and another.
How could you life be different a year from now if you had that dream career? How will it feel if you're still wondering about whether to step out?
Excuse Number Three: I don't know what to do to get there.
This excuse keeps you stuck in confusion which leads to paralysis. Think about a time in your life when you had to do something but didn't know how to do it.
It could be as simple as learning to ice skate or change an electrical switch. What did you do to get the information and support you needed so that you could move forward?
Now apply that same strategy to reaching for that meaningful career you've been longing to have.
Who could you talk to? What print and online resources might exist to help you? Do you want to talk to a career coach to help facilitate your transition?
Just change your thinking from, "I don't know what to do," to "How can I do this?" You'll find resources everywhere once you open to the possibility of their being available.
Excuse Number Four: It will take too long.
This kind of thinking will stop you from undertaking almost any new activity. Once that happens, my friends, you might as well say it's over.
We know from adult learning theory that continuing to learn new things keeps us energized. New studies even help us create new brain cells.
You are never too old to undertake new things!
Think of it this way. However long it will take you to develop your career purpose, three, five or seven years from now, you will be three, five or seven years older anyway!
So, go for it. You can create joy in expressing your career purpose at any age.
Excuse Number Five: Why bother? It'll never work anyway.
This excuse is big time giving up before you get started. It says that you may have had the longing for a dream career and purposeful life for a long time; it hasn't happened yet so it feels like you'll be stuck forever in this state of longing-but-not-having.
It's not true! As long as you're alive you can find a way to get what you want.
You may need to take your mind off worry and longing. You may need to find some help. You may need to allow yourself to become excited again about the possibility of having a meaningful career.
But you can change. You can move in the direction of your career dreams - if you choose to do so.
Don't let these excuses, and others, stop you. Don't come to the end of your life wishing you had lived your career purpose. Rather, throw away these meaningless excuses and begin to move in a positive direction.
Here's to living excuse-free.
Author Resource:-
Anita Web Weaver is the owner of Design to Shine Consulting, offering coaching, mentoring and speaking services to help people shine, no matter what, in their career, their life and their health.
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