Are Your Fears Sabotaging Your Dreams? | TwoLine Studios
How to take action toward your career transition
I hear it all the time from clients evaluating their next move: “I know I’m not where I want to be, but I’m not sure I have what it takes to get to where I need to be.”
Career transition is tough. There’s no sugar-coating that reality. We’re faced with our own fears, insecurities, and thoughts of “going backward.” But this way of thinking often derails us from achieving happiness and finding a path we were born to follow.
A graphic recording done by TwoLine Studios at the Constellation’s Connected Enterprise conference
Take a recent conversation I had with a client as an example. She felt it was time for her to move on from her current company, but she didn’t have a clear vision for what was next. As we continued talking, I could see her light up as she began discussing her philanthropic work and the creativity and discipline she found when she focused on her photography skills. Identifying this gave her a starting point of where to begin directing her next career move.
"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
I love this quote because I’ve always believed that when you visualize your dream and make a declaration to achieve it, the path to get there will reveal itself.
But turning these ideas into action doesn’t come without some work.
So where to start? The process I use involves three steps: Scan, Focus, and Act. What’s great about this process is it can be used in almost any situation — not just career transition — and TwoLine often use it during our Clarity Through Creativity and Visual Strategy & Innovation workshops.
This is how we used Scan, Focus, and Act with our client through her career transition.
Scan
This first phase is when we brainstorm together. We often don’t take the time to sit down and hone in on what’s happening in our current lives vs what we want to see in our future lives.
In a career transition we focus mostly on what’s next and we start with two very important questions:
What are your highest-level skills?
What brings you the most joy?
The answers to these two questions are critical in evaluating your next move and must be thought about together. You can be really good at something, but does it bring you joy? Or reversely, maybe something gives you extreme joy, but are you actually good at it or are there skills you need to develop?
We also utilize some exercises from my book, Draw Your Big Idea, where we map out and draw a timeline of life events and then tag them as positive or negative.
A TwoLine Studios Clarity Through Creativity workshop
Focus
It’s time to dig a little deeper. We’ve identified what brings us joy and what matches with our current and/or future skills and we’ve looked at our life events in a very visual way. Now, how do we monetize all of this so that we can seriously consider our career transition and eliminate some of the fear and anxiety?
As we think about ways to really make this transition work, much of what we do in the focus phase is writing down any fears that bubble up the moment they creep into your subconscious. If you don’t focus on these thoughts, they can be your biggest roadblocks for moving forward.
As we begin to build a fear list, we counter each fear by writing down the opposite of the limiting belief. I’ll give you an example. My client’s biggest fears was worrying that her photography skills were not up to par or good enough to make a living off of. Her counter list looked a little something like this:
Find a trusted photographer who can give critical feedback on some of her photos – what does she need to work on?
Are there classes she can take to fine tune her skills?
Can she volunteer to take photos at an event to practice?
Notes from a TwoLine Studios Clarity Through Creativity workshop
Action
It’s time to put your thoughts into an action plan. Is this where I tell my client to quit her job and follow her dream? Of course not. Again, career transition can be tough, and it often takes time. If we take baby steps every day, imagine what we could accomplish within one year! Mapping out a plan of action: whether it’s meeting with someone who works in the field you want to transition to or taking some classes there are always very actionable steps to take now that your vision, dreams, and joys are all laid out in front of you.
Have a challenge you want to visually bring to life and put into action?
Two Line Studios has been helping brands communicate virtually for years. Our facilitator-led sessions implement a Clarity Through Creativity®™ approach using visuals, storytelling, and creative inspiration — even when getting together in person is not possible. Subscribe to our newsletter below to learn how to untangle more complex challenges.