Are you brave in your career choices?

Are you brave in your career choices or are you constrained by your self imposed limits? Do you sit within your comfort zone, doing work that you could do with your eyes closed? Or are you consistently taking on new and interesting projects that stretch and challenge you?

There are times when doing work that is well within your capabilities is a smart move. (eg: when other parts of your life are throwing you a curve ball!) But if you sit in this space beyond its use by date, the outcome is never good.

I recently heard from Kym who had always considered herself an ambitious and focused career-driven professional. After attending a workshop with me, she realised she was “asleep at the wheel and simply complacent.”

It’s little wonder she was being overlooked for the best opportunities.

Brave career decisions don’t come without some risk.

But when did you last achieve something that you were proud of that didn’t come with just a little risk?

Taking bold and courageous action in my career hasn’t always been part of my DNA. (The fact that I worked as a Health and Safety Consultant for quite some time may explain my aversion to risk!)

For many years I held myself back, playing small and choosing the safe career options. Others saw more in me than I saw in myself. I feared that I wasn’t good enough to take the roles others encouraged me to go after.

After a time, these safe decisions left me feeling bored, unfulfilled and frustrated because I was capable of so much more.

Brave and inspiring is how a client described me recently.

Who me? Well yes. No self-imposed limits. No boundaries. No following what is expected. This is much more how I live my life and shape my career today.

Six years ago I left the corporate world with no real plans for what was next. That alone was a huge and brave step. Quite frankly, it had my friends and family questioning my sanity.

I craved work that would challenge me and fill my soul.

I just knew in my heart that I wanted and needed change. I didn’t at the time know exactly what that was but had faith that with time and space the clarity and opportunities would come.

And yes… creating this business of supporting women to find their place at the leadership table has been incredibly brave. It meant stepping into an unfamiliar world, backing myself and completely reinventing myself and my career.

It also included letting go of the certainty of a regular income (although I didn’t quite plan on earning quite so little in the early years).

I hear from many women who feel trapped in their current role out of the need for certainty and stability of the income it provides them. I thought the same but now realise we have way more choices and options than we might think.

Today I enjoy a lifestyle and work I could never have imagined for myself six years ago.

I enjoy an incredible relationship with an amazing man who supports me in everything I do. And together we live a crazy, unconventional life.  For many years we lived between his home on the Northern Beaches of Sydney and my home within the café culture of inner Melbourne. 

We are now primarily in Melbourne but travel VERY often blending our work with our love of enjoying all the experiences life has to offer. 

Every day I get to do work that is challenging and so rewarding. The richness I now enjoy is all down to having the courage to let go of my self-imposed limits, to regularly stepping outside my comfort zone and always making choices that are right for me.

I don’t tell you my story to inspire you to walk away from your job or your career.

That might be going a little too far!

Rather to encourage you to ask yourself whether you have been asleep at the wheel or stagnating in a role that no longer challenges you, excites you or gives you real meaning and fulfilment.

Is it time to take your career off auto pilot, let go of your limits and make some bold and courageous decisions to reignite your career and your life?