This morning I changed my outfit. Four times.
It’s not that I can’t commit.
It’s that I have a lot of good ideas, I’m creative, I sometimes get bored, or something else strikes my fancy.
Maybe you can relate.
It’s not much of a problem when it comes to wardrobe changes. The only consequence is I have a ton of clothes to put away (which I hate.)
But when it comes to committing to a career choice, things get a little trickier.
Do you worry about making the wrong career choice? Does that fear keep you stuck right where you are – paralyzed and afraid to make any move?
Career Paralysis
Maybe one day you feel truly excited about a career idea, only to find that your excitement wanes – or something new catches your eye and sends you in a completely new direction.
How can you possibly know what the right direction is, or worse, how can you be sure that you won’t change your mind and begin to feel that you’re in the wrong place? Just like you are now.
Those thoughts, conscious or subconscious, can keep you stuck right where you are.
They can trick you into thinking that you don’t know anything about what you truly want.
But the truth is that you know a lot more about what you want in your next career than you think.
Don’t let your active and interested mind trick you into thinking that you’re lost.
Questions To Avoid The Wrong Career Choice
When you’re faced with this situation, you might ask yourself some of these questions:
1. How lost am I?
Are you able to narrow it down to just a few viable choices?
In other words, do you really feel all over the place, or do you find that you keep coming back to the same ideas or types of ideas?
Are your career ideas things you get excited about because they are fun, or because you’d really want to do them? Read this article for more about how to figure out the difference.
Sometimes we get excited about the possibilities, but we don’t really think that all of the possibilities are realistic or even desirable when we sit down to consider them. So first figure out how lost you actually are.
2. Can I make a mistake?
When you think about the choices you might actually make can you make a mistake? I mean, you’re not actually going to decide to quit your job to start your own leech farm – unless you are. . .
Maybe you can make a mistake. Maybe you can choose something and come away thinking, “Woah, what the heck was I thinking?”
So first, how likely are you to actually do something you’ll view as a disaster in retrospect?
Second, do you think that you don’t have enough time left in your career to make a false move (if that’s what you even want to call it)?
Or maybe you think you do have time to try something that seems like it would be a fit and if it doesn’t work out you can try something out without any real issues.
3. Does the choice I’m considering allow me enough space and freedom?
If you choose something that’s interesting enough for you, you will be able to satisfy many parts of your personality and creative needs.
Just make sure you know what those are.
Don’t Fear The Wrong Career Choice
You don’t have to stay stuck because of fear of the wrong career choice.
You can find the path to the right career for you. You have to be willing to believe that is true, look hard for it, and enlist help if you need it.
When you find it you will be able to commit because the choice will make you excited about the possibilities.