Don’t Let Fear Hold You Back from Change

Let’s wind back to 2020, when we were still in shock at moving into lockdown and fearful of a pandemic we didn’t understand. Perhaps it wasn’t the best time to be ‘let go’ by an employer — but that’s what happened.

After eight years of contracting for a large financial institute and being told a pandemic was NOT going to impact our roles, our team was given notice.

Wow…

I should have felt worried — at that time, everything looked uncertain.

But instead, I felt relieved. It was the push I needed to finally leave my old career and fully embrace one that I’d been engaging with since starting my PhD seven years earlier.

It’s often fear that’s holding us back from change.

It’s not the right time…

I don’t have the right skills…

What if others see me fail…

Change doesn’t have to be all or nothing. It doesn’t have to mean giving up your income and risking everything — it can start small, in the background. Though, in that moment, change was thrust upon me,

It’s never ‘the right time,’ we will never ‘have all the skills,’ and yes, ‘parts of what we do will fail.’