There are a thousand books and articles that tell you to ‘eliminate fear,’ ‘take the leap,’ or ‘make the change’ in order to find personal and financial success.
But what if, no matter the statistics or the rationalizing, you just can’t bring yourself to pull back the safety net and take the plunge?
Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure. It just means you aren’t the personality type to dive in headfirst.
If you aren’t the sort to quit your job, run away on an exotic trip at the drop of a hat, or throw all your savings into your dream venture, how do you break out and achieve personal and/or financial success?
You’re in luck! Because I have the answer for you…
If you aren’t the dive-in-headfirst type, that means you’re the other type—the test-out-the-waters-first type. Which is a great thing to be, up to a point.
The point when this becomes an issue is when you stand in your own way.
You know you are unhappy with your job, your salary, your lack of free time—you name it—yet you decide it’s safer to stay put and ride it out.
Don’t let your safety net turn into a straight jacket.
If you feel confined by your current state, chances are that won’t change until you do.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to completely wipe the slate of your life clean.
Rather, it just means it’s time to do what you do best, and test the waters.
Do you dream of something more, but are worried about letting go of the financial security of your current job?
Then keep your job and simply reorient your mindset.
Because guess what?
The chances of that dream being realized while fear induces you into making do are absolutely zero.
You don’t have to run into your dream with reckless abandon, but if you stand still rather than taking little steps, you’ve already failed.
So start small.
You are no longer trudging through the days to reach dull ‘relaxed’ evenings.
You are powering through the days to fund the future that you dream of.
Your job isn’t a dead end, it’s a steppingstone on the road to better things.
Set deadlines for yourself so that you have a finish line to race toward and create a new savings plan that will leave you with a cushion when you are ready to take a bigger step and move on from your current situation.
Though it is important to ‘take the plunge’ so to speak, that doesn’t have to mean all or nothing. Many people are frightened away by life-changing ideas because they believe in order to chase their dreams, they have to throw out their security.
You can be living proof that this is not the case.
You can keep your current job while you plan for the next one.
You can take that much-needed dream vacation without putting your career on the line.
You can finance a new business without pouring your entire livelihood into it.
There are ways to take the leap with safeguards in place. Now’s the time to start taking the small steps, and before you know it, you’ll be running towards that ledge with all the confidence in the world.
