The GOURD method of fear handling

I caused something of a panic in the allotment community on Friday. I was totally oblivious to the concern I had generated until a Facebook message from my lovely allotment "neighbour" pinged on my phone:

"John and Sam desperately want to know if you have harvested ur big pumpkin? They are worried someone has stolen it x"

For several weeks now I have had three - though I say so myself - impressively huge pumpkins ripening beautifully on my patch.

And on Friday, despite Halloween still being six weeks away, their orange hue and a yearning for pumpkin soup got the better of me.

(By the way, if you're not feeling it with this pumpkin story, skip to the end for news of a great careers podcast. But personally, I feel you'd be missing out ..)

Armed with sturdy secateurs I drove the 0.8 miles (yes, drove, these babies are so big, the bike is not an option) down to the allotment and sentenced one, the ripest, to the pot. Leaving a somewhat forlorn stalk and a big dent in the soil.

I worked unseen and unannounced. Hence the fear of an unscrupulous pumpkin thief rippling out among my fellow allotmenteers, who are clearly playing a longer game with their own jack-o-lanterns.

And I imagine that into that pumpkin-shaped gap on my plot, crept fear, questions and assumptions - How likely is it that Rachel has broken the 31st October rule and harvested her pumpkin? What if someone is nicking Halloween produce? It could be an intruder! Do we need to start setting traps and alarms?! How much is vegetable CCTV?!!!

Ok. I'm exaggerating.

They were just concerned some little scally had nabbed my prize gourd. (Which to be fair, does sometimes happen round these parts.)

But it reminded me of last Saturday's workshop "How to Figure Out Your Next Career Move" (hello if you were there!) when we talked about the FEARS that get in the way of any professional move - "I'm too old!" .. "I don't have the right experience" ... "How would I possibly afford to retrain?" ... "People will think I'm bonkers" ... "What if I'm no good at making pumpkin soup?" (sorry, not sure how that last one crept in there).

So if you're caught up in the fear-induced procrastination cycle of I-can't-make-a-move-because-it-will-all-be-a-disaster let me share with you a pumpkin-inspired lesson. I'm calling it G-O-U-R-D (damn, I'm so ridiculously pleased with that acronym).

Go Out and Understand the Real Deal

Fears keep us stuck when we haven't got to the truth. When we are stewing in a vat of unknowns and worries and assumptions.

So take that worry that is stopping you making progress and set out to prove or disprove it. GOURD it! Go Out and Understand the Real Deal.

Perhaps you're worried only people with specific qualifications can do the job you want, or the salaries in your ideal industry are always ridiculously low, or no-one will pay for the brilliant business idea you have or you won't actually be any good at interior design.

Quit worrying and find out the real deal on all these fears and questions you have. Talk to 3 people already doing the role you have in mind who can actually answer your questions, try to sell your amazing service to ONE client, ring a recruiter, training provider or industry body to establish the criteria for jobs in rocket science ...

Do what my allotment neighbour did. Stop filling your information gap with assumptions and just reach out to someone who actually has some answers. It may not be quite as fast as pinging through a Facebook message, but you'll get there.

And in the meantime, if you'd like to hear more about dream jobs, my own career change journey and practical and mindset advice on the most effective way to approach yours, have a listen to the marvellous Eleanor Tweddell interviewing me for her "Another Door" podcast. For those of you new to this newsletter, I spent 20 years at the BBC before training as a career coach, so I've made my own fear-filled transition.

Eleanor is a fellow coach and expert on reinventions and if you like our chat, there are over 100 episodes of her fantastic podcast, covering all kinds of career shifts. I'd highly recommend you have a listen!

Stay curious, Rachel

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