Do you find yourself wondering what’s next for you? Are you reviewing, rethinking, or reinventing your priorities? What do you want from the next year…three years…ten years?
At 35, Ana has already accomplished a lot professionally. In the last few years she has completed her masters degree, been promoted twice, and now leads UX (user experience) design for an app development firm in New York City. On the personal front, Ana has travelled, become an increasingly accomplished runner, and married.
She could hardly be blamed if she took a self-congratulatory victory lap — and maybe did some humble-bragging on Facebook. She’s doing great. But Ana’s not ready to rest on her laurels yet. Naturally curious, self-motivated, and wanting to experience as much as life has to offer, she finds herself wondering… “what’s next?”
Helen Keller once said “Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing,” Given all her recent accomplishments, Ana was surprised to find herself confronted by genuine uncertainty about her next big adventure, and how things might turn out. But the fact is, the next thing always feels that way — at least it does if it’s a big step.
Ana recently had a conversation with her coach about what the next level might look like — particularly for her career and her growing interest in leadership. For more, read Arden Coaching’s post, “Know Yourself: The First Step Toward High performance Leadership.”
Many people are experiencing this right now — choosing whether to leave a job, ask for a promotion, become an entrepreneur, step into a leadership role… Ana hesitates to take the leap. Why? Like many, it’s a variation of “I’m afraid and don’t know how it will turn out.” And they’re right, we don’t know how it will turn out! We never truly do. In fact, we don’t really know how our current plan will turn out either. Honestly, we know nothing.
The question Ana’s coach had for her then was, “Will you allow that fear or unknown about the next thing to stop you? Because ultimately, it’s not real — it’s a voice in your head, and you don’t have to listen to it.” Mindset and attitude are crucial.
What will YOU do with your life, your daring adventure? We are blessed with the ability to experience, feel, and do so much. The only question is, will we? The fear and reluctance are understandable. The concern for what might go wrong that comes up when we think of taking on something new, or making a choice that will have a big impact on ourselves or others — of course that will be there.
At the end of this amazing ride we call life, do you want to be able to say that you had a daring adventure? That you did big things, took on big challenges, loved well and often, made mistakes and grew from them, led others, laughed frequently, and took advantage of all that you could? Or do you want to say that you did just enough to keep from making mistakes, or being scared, or messing up? Either way, your ride will come to an end.
As the saying goes, “You didn’t come this far to only come this far.” The choice is yours. You’re making it right now. What will you choose next?
For support on your journey, assistance in determining the direction of your adventure, or a nudge to move you past your fear, contact Arden Coaching at [email protected] or 646.684.3777.