Career change fear is normal. It’s partly about fear of the unknown. And about making mistakes. But also a deeper fear that you won’t be enough, no matter how hard you try.  And that dreams are just that — silly fantasies best left unexplored.

More often than not, our fears are the biggest obstacle to change of any kind. And it leaves us afraid to even take that first step. But sometimes just understanding and recognizing the roadblocks can help them seem smaller — and less daunting. It may make it easier to at least put one toe in the water. And then the next.

Often, the simple act of giving yourself the permission to say “let’s try” can set real change in motion. Or at least give yourself a chance to grow and explore new things. And maybe even see what’s behind the next door you never before imagined,

Even if you don’t ever reach your original goal, the act of trying and seeing where that leads is a pretty cool thing. And that alone can help you go further the next time.

So let’s try to understand what’s really going on. And look at some steps you can take to help.

Basic career change fears

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Sometimes I like to go back and look at posts I’ve written over the years. One of my favorite posts is about something I call job morphing, a way to open up new possibilities. And it’s based on real-life job & career changes I made happen in my own life.

Job morphing is a way of taking a work situation — any work situation — and not just accepting, but instead finding those tiny bits of straw you can spin into something much better … full-blown career gold. In effect, it’s a self-steered path toward job and career change from the inside.

While you might take a quick look at this list (edited down from the original post) and only see random bits of straw, I assure you that making these into habits can bring all kinds of new opportunities into your work life. [Read more…]

Are you looking to career coach yourself? Not a bad idea. While there’s a lot to be gained by working with another person, no reason you can’t get started on your own.

Self-coaching might even make any future coaching relationship easier, as you begin to get to know aspects of you that may be in hiding. And at the very least, you’ll have a fun ride — in a very familiar amusement park.

It’s serious but don’t take it serious

Perhaps even the thought that you can career coach yourself feels too overwhelming. Or just not the right idea for you. But why not at least give it a try? As a very centered and caring Chinese doctor once said to me “It’s serious, but don’t take it serious.”

For those of you as grammatically geeky as I am, yes it should be “seriously”. But that’s exactly the point … loosen up and have fun exploring. This isn’t the time yet to let “I could never do that” be your guiding force. Just let the ideas flow as you open up to new thoughts — and potential new paths!

Your “coach yourself” plan starts here

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Perhaps you’re going to graduate soon. Or maybe you’re unhappy in your current career. Odds are someone will tell you that you absolute need to take a career aptitude test. But how useful are career aptitude tests really?

When I was studying for my career counselor certificate, one of the topics we covered was aptitude testing. And it was presented as if this was something that would help open doors to a client’s happy career future. But, I knew from my own experience that this was not always the case.

What things career aptitude tests can tell you

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