I’m finally starting to feel better this week! I caught a cold after traveling to Washington DC/ Virginia/ Maryland last weekend. 🙁 I attended a women’s leadership conference put on by Rosetta Thurman, Happy Black Woman. The theme of the conference was #MakeTheLeap. So during the conference, I made the leap and announced the start of this blog to my friends and family via Facebook Live! I felt so inspired and felt so blessed to meet so many ambitious women (and a few men)!
Mounted on tripods around the room were giant sized quotes from the Happy Black Woman’s Facebook Page. The one that stuck out to me read, “Fear Means Go.” After reading it about 6 times, I started to think about all of the areas in my life where I have allowed fear to stop me from doing what I really wanted to do.
“Fear Means Go” quote from Happy Black Woman
Personal Fear Thoughts: “Why would you put all of your business out there (on your blog)? Are you really going to make any money from that? Are people going to read it?”
Professional Fear Thoughts: “Don’t apply for that job. They say you need at least 6 years of managerial experience to be considered. You should wait a few more years.”
Are these the sayings from an over protecting friend or a jealous co-worker? Nope, these are all from my head in the form of fear and/or doubt.
Am I the only one guilty of this? Nope, WE ALL ARE.
Why? We’re all scared (to a degree) of being judged and standing out. For most of us, we were taught as kids on a conscious or subconscious level to fit in and be like everyone else.
Guess what? It didn’t stop there. It found its way into the workplace. *GASP* People often say, “Be thankful you have a job.” or “It takes at least 10 years to get to that level.” To me, it seems that everyone is happy with being average. Look around your office. There may be people with 30+ years with the same company, same department and sometimes the same job! (If that person loves it, so do I!) Should everyone subscribe to that school of thought? HELL NO!
I remember being too scared to mention that I wanted to be a manager. I was afraid of being seen as too ambitious, too eager, too inexperienced, blah, blah, blah. At times, I could feel the judgment as I spoke to a few people, but I kept moving.
Positive connections, LeeAnn and me.
Think about your career…do you remember a time when you:
- Could have attended that networking event with all those executives?
- Did not ask for mentorship out of the fear of being turned down?
- Had a question, but did not ask it because you did not want to say something “stupid”?
I’ve been there! To conquer most of this fear I:
- Read inspirational “how-to’s” (similar to this one) :).
- Embraced the optimistic view of my future (and planned for it).
- De-cluttered my home (and my life).
- Surrounded myself with positive ambitious people.
It gave me the strength to keep pushing forward and to this day, continues to motivate me. Just remember, when you are scared, don’t stop! That’s your confirmation to MOVE!
Everything starts with a plan, be bold and start planning your dream career to get to the top!
What have you always wanted to do but didn’t because of fear? How long has fear held you back? What steps can you make bold decisions that will impact your life in a positive way?
*Featured image source can be found here.
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