How To Make A Change With Confidence

Many of my clients come to me having decided that they don’t want to do what they are doing for the rest of their lives. The fashion industry has been fun for them, they’ve enjoyed it but now it doesn’t feel the same and the high pressure and fast pace is out of kilter with their own values and priorities. They know they want to change but they don’t know how or don’t know what to do next. Ultimately, many say they don’t have the confidence to make the change. If this is how you feel you are not alone.

Maybe, you’ve been in fashion for a while now and you want something different. Perhaps, you know what you want to do but can’t quite convince yourself to take the leap or you don’t know what you want to do and so you stay where you are.

Doing what you are doing now is a safe option. There is security emotionally and financially if nothing changes. However, if deep down you want to make a change, you risk fulfilment and happiness.

What is holding you back?? Is it that you doubt your abilities or you are worried you might not succeed?

By procrastinating about this change (whether it is a career change or going for a slightly different job role) you are protecting yourself from the risk of it not working. But what if it did work? What if the change you make gives you everything you want and need?

Courage

It takes courage to admit to yourself that what you’re doing now isn’t what you want to do forever or you may like where you are but don’t want to go any higher and as a result feel stuck. It takes a lot of courage to change career, to learn something new, to be new at something. The good news is that the further you go the more courageous you will feel and the more confidence you will have.

First steps

Taking those first, small steps is hard when you don’t have a guarantee that it will work and you may not even yet know where you are going.

You need to decided to do something, to take the first step. Once you’ve made this commitment you just need to stick with it and keep going. The decision that ‘I am going to make this happen’ can come from a specific event in life or work that make you feel like there is no other option. Alternatively, the negatives of staying where you are might start to outweigh the positives and so it becomes a pragmatic decision. This commitment will keep you going when you doubt you’re doing the right thing, don’t know what to do or you have to just see the job you hate through a little longer.

Limiting beliefs

We all have our own set of limiting beliefs. You may know this as the voice in your head that tells you, you can’t do something or it won’t work because… These beliefs often serve to protect us from something but also stop us from taking risks that are completely safe. For example, you might believe that you can’t give a presentation to 100 people or tell yourself you are not creative or bad at maths. These beliefs limit us and prevent our growth.

In the first part of my Career Compass programme we spend time working through limiting beliefs. We look at the evidence, where they come from and how they help us. Then we consider how they are holding us back and reframe them into new, empowering thoughts and beliefs.

Strengths

When we find the courage to try something new, we develop new strengths and skills. Think back to a time when you tried something for the first time. You wouldn’t have been an expert at first, but you were suddenly able to do something new. I remember the first time I presented a Monday trade meeting, I had never done anything like that before. Terrified, I explained my weekly sales and what actions I would be taking that week. It went ok. I wasn’t brilliant and definitely had room for improvement but I now had the ability to present a trade meeting. I knew I could.

By taking the first, small, courageous step on your career change journey you will build new strengths and in turn, more courage and more confidence.

Confidence

As you take action you gather momentum and confidence builds. Confidence is not innate and not something you are or just have. Confidence is acquired through our actions, knowing we can do something and if it doesn’t work, knowing we can find a new path and we will be ok.

Confidence is a skill that is learnt, like all others.

So, how can you take your first steps with confidence?

1)????? Think about what you want and why.

2)????? What will happen if you don’t change anything?

3)????? What could happen if you do?

4)????? Commit – write it down. What you are going to do and why.

5)????? What is holding you back? Write down your limiting beliefs and think of a new thought that is positive and empowering.

6)????? List all your strengths, in all areas of life. If you don’t feel you have a strength you need, make plans to try it out, build your strengths.

7)????? Celebrate your wins!! Each of these steps is a win and will propel you forwards and increase your confidence.

I will leave you with a quote from Tony Robbins, ‘In 10 years from now, you will surely arrive. The question is where?’

This is your decision and is in your control.

To help you take your first steps, download my guide to Redesign Your Career In 4 Steps

If you are thinking of making a change and would like my support, Book a FREE call