“I want to find another job but I don’t feel ready” “I know I need to get to the gym but I need to be ready.” Any of these sentences ever cross your mind? Ever have them escape out of your mouth? Truth now! “Take that leap, when you’re ready.” Ever get that advice? What if I told you that I could get you to be ready in two...no...one second flat. Would you believe me? Would you be game? Okay, brace yourself, here it is: D E C I D E Yup, DECIDE. See it didn’t hurt. First things first. When you say or think that you don’t feel ready, what you really mean is “I feel scared.” There’s really nothing to get ready. Now let’s be clear, deciding doesn’t mean that you don’t prepare -- two different things. What ‘getting ready’ really means is, “I’ll search for that job when I get over the fear.” “I’ll cross the threshold of a gym once the knot in my gut goes away...when I stop breaking out in a sweat...when the fear of judgement stops fluttering against my chest. Here’s the thing: that’s never going happen. And deciding happens even before you begin to prepare. In fact, it’s the first step to getting into the mindset that will enable you to prepare.
Taking a risk, making a change, stepping outside your comfort zone is all about fear - you truly need to get your brain around that reality. That doesn’t mean you need to get OVER that reality, it means you need to WITHSTAND that reality. That’s a huge distinction. Once you understand that you will continue to feel that two-hundred-pound gorilla sitting on your chest but you need to move forward anyway, then you’ve made a fundamental, tectonic, shift in how your brain processes change, or challenge or risk.
Now about DECIDING. At some point, you need to decide that you have all the data, and decide that the certainty you presently have, is going to be good enough. PERIOD. And unless you’re splitting the atom or performing open heart surgery, when we’re talking about overcoming fear so that we can make a decision and move forward, good enough...is, well...good enough.
The reality is that 365 days will tick-tock by whether you like it or not. So ask yourself, Do you want to be where you are right now, in 52 weeks still whining about getting ready? Or, do you want to be somewhere else? A place where you can look around and say, ‘hot damn, I found the perfect job,’ ‘I staged my first show,’ ‘ I finished a 5K’. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have made the decision to move forward and kick some bee-hind to boot? So the question is this, where do you want to be? DECIDE. If you can’t decide, let me ask you one last question, what are you getting out of waiting to be ready?
Ursula Cafaro Clair Cafaro
Members of Happy Healthy Women receive 1 complementary cycling and 1 complementary strength class.
WE'LL HOLD YOUR HAND AND KICK YOUR ASS!