Why aren’t you taking action to create the career and life you want? Or, if you’re a total do-er, why aren’t you taking the actions that will get you the results you want?

Maybe you’ve got a vision. A life you imagine. A dream career. A business idea. The love of your life. If you let yourself go there, you want it so badly. Why don’t you have it? Why aren’t you creating it? 

Because there’s ONE thing holding you back. And until you know this one thing, and face it head on, you’ll stay stuck.

Perhaps there’s something about your life that you don’t like. You want to change it. Maybe it’s a terrible job, or a bad habit, or something simple like a piece of furniture you keep stubbing your toe on. Why aren’t you changing it? What aren’t you taking action?

Or maybe it’s huge, like a global or systemic problem. You think about it all the time, wringing your hands but feeling helpless. Why aren’t you taking action on it? Or, why aren’t you taking the actions that would get you more of the results you want?

Maybe I’m just lazy. Or a procrastinator.

Is it because you’re lazy? A procrastinator? Many of you have told me that’s why you don’t yet have the job you want. I hear lots of statements like, “I’m not the kind of person who makes things happen,” “I have to work really hard for everything,” “It’s too hard,” “I just don’t like to sell myself.” “I’m stuck.” 

Or it’s something external, like the circumstances. The pandemic. The economy. My family. My boss holds the keys to my future. There aren’t many jobs right now, anyway. 

I want you to notice how true those statements sound to you. Think about why you’re not taking action. Whatever your answer, notice how true it sounds to you. 

Now, notice how you feel when you think any of those thoughts. Are you energized? Inspired? No! Or you’d be taking action! You’d be getting the results you want. 

Self judgment doesn’t help you create the career and life you want.

You might think that by naming your laziness, you’ll motivate yourself to take action. Does it work? Do you magically move into action every time you think the thought, “I’m just lazy?” 

Probably not. More likely, it reinforces your procrastination, your inaction … your supposed laziness. 

Do you see how those kinds of thoughts contribute to your not taking action?

Neither does helplessness. Or blaming the circumstances. 

What about thinking it’s external? When you think “there aren’t many jobs right now, anyway” or “My boss is crazy,” do you feel more energized into action? Or less? 

Some people are taking actions, getting what they want, in the same circumstances as you. So why not you? 

It probably boils down to one thing they do differently. It looks like lots of things because they might be taking lots of actions, but those actions start with one thing they do differently. And that’s good news. Because you can, too. 

So, how do you create the career and life you want?

Why you’re not getting traction toward the thing you want or away from the thing you don’t want is because of your brain!

Here’s how your brain works: Basically everything you do, every action or inaction you take, is to avoid discomfort.

We all want to create change in our lives because we want to, because we have a vision of something we want. Yes, the vision can do it. But only if we build the skill of tolerating the discomfort of taking action toward it.

Sometimes an even better path than vision in creating change is pain. We’re more motivated by pain we feel now or pain we don’t want to feel than we are by vision, generally. But even when we’re motivated by pain, to gain traction in the direction you want to go, away from the pain, you’ll have to tolerate the discomfort of change. If you can’t tolerate the discomfort, you’ll allow distraction. You’ll stay in pain, because you know it, rather than tolerate the discomfort of staying with the change. 

Learn to sit with discomfort.

Your brain wants to avoid the discomfort of taking new action. So, then, how do you create the career and life you want if your brain is making this so hard for you?

Learn to sit with discomfort.

It’s that simple. Not easy. But very simple.

You’ve already been tolerating some kind of discomfort in the job you dislike or the relationship that’s not right for you. But this is discomfort you know. Moving towards a new discomfort goes against what your brain wants to do.

So you’ll have to put up your dukes. You’ll need to be ready to challenge your brain and to embrace the discomfort.

Do this one thing, my friend, and you’ll see. You’ll soon be taking small actions that will yield the career and life you want. You were meant for so much than survival mode.

If you need help navigating the discomfort for your next career target, click here to schedule a free 20-minute discovery call.

p.s.

If you’re too overwhelmed to even imagine how to open your mind to possibility, how to begin improving your work and your life, right now, I created something just for you.

I want to invite you to a special career strategy session offer that I’ve created. It’s called the Covid Career Strategy Session.

I can help you master key job search and career obstacles and increase the value you bring to your target employers. More importantly, master your questions, fears, and concerns. I give you my laser focus and experience helping hundreds of people go from work survival mode to career fulfillment and change their whole lives for the better. All at a huge discount.

Schedule your Covid Career Strategy Session now!