I’m going to be honest with you: I’ve never been much of a risk-taker. And I actually said I NEVER wanted to be an entrepreneur. And there were plenty of times when my risk-averse personality kept me stuck in a job that didn’t make me happy. It wasn’t until I realized that the reason why I couldn’t move forward was because of anxiety that things started changing for me—and now I’m changing that for other people too!
You don’t think you deserve better.
You don’t feel like you deserve a promotion.
You don’t feel like you deserve to make more money.
You don’t feel like you deserve to move out or up to a better job or career.
You feel like you’ve already accomplished so much, where do you go from here?
You’re doing great. You’ve got things on your resume and in your portfolio that you’re proud of, but it’s time for more. You want to do something different, better than what you did before.
But the problem is that you don’t know where to start or how to push yourself forward.
The answer is simple:
find out where your skills could be used in new ways and challenge yourself with projects that stretch them beyond their comfort zone. But what happens when there is doubt?
As successful as you are, you have self-doubt.
You’re stuck because there’s a part of you that doesn’t believe that you deserve better. Sometimes you work at organizations that believe you’re lucky to be there, so stay in your “place”. And that just cosigns with the doubt you’re already feeling.
It doesn’t matter what your job title is or how much money you make—you could be the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company, as long as there is lingering doubt in your mind about whether or not you are worthy of moving on to something bigger and better, then it will be difficult or impossible for anything else to happen. Which results in you becoming stuck, afraid, or unable to move forward.
You don’t feel like you’re good at anything.
You don’t feel like you are good at your job, career, or life. The reason for this is that sometimes we compare ourselves to others and find ourselves lacking in comparison. Here’s the thing, all day and twice on Sunday comparison is a dream killer.
But what if I told you that what makes you unique is also what makes you valuable? This is especially true in the world of work, where employers often value and reward diversity.
Maybe this is you…
You’re afraid of failing.
Fear of failure is a real problem, and it can keep you from moving forward in your career. But fear is natural, and you’re not alone if this issue has been holding you back. In fact, it’s completely normal to have fears about what might happen if you take a risk or go after something new—but it doesn’t mean that those fears should hold us back indefinitely!
Or this is you…
Success scares you.
You’ve been working hard, and you’re getting closer to achieving your goals. You want what’s best for yourself and your family—and that includes success. But there’s just one problem: success scares you.
As a general rule, most people don’t like change; they prefer stability over risk-taking. The thought of going after something big can be terrifying because it involves failure as well as success—and failure is often seen as something negative or even shameful by society at large. So if you feel fear around moving forward in your career or life in general, there’s no need to feel ashamed or guilty about it! You’re not alone.
Let’s face it. You can have a fear of failure or success and they are both equally detrimental to growth because they keep us from taking risks and seeking out new opportunities. And when we don’t take risks, our potential for growth ceases to exist.
This fear leads to the one key reason why you can’t seem to move forward in your career.
Your biggest problem is you are experiencing the freeze response of anxiety.
You may not recognize that you are in freeze response mode. Some symptoms include:
- You feel stuck
- You don’t know why you’re stuck
- You’re afraid to move forward because of what might happen if you do
- You may feel overwhelmed
If this sounds familiar, don’t worry—you’re not alone! The freeze response of anxiety can feel exhausting.
We’ve heard the term deer caught in headlights. The deer freezes as a last resort in nature. Because many predators don’t like dead prey. So, freezing, falling down motionless works to make some predators uninterested. When the predator loses interest, the prey can “come back to life” and live free to carry and live for another day.
Freeze response for humans doesn’t quite give us the same results.
Freeze response can feel like:
- overwhelm and unable to make a decision.
- knowing all the steps, but you’re able to take any of them.
- knowing you’re not appreciated or valued where you are; but feel hopelessly stuck or even ambivalent about moving forward.
- being disrespected, being dismissed, seeing others get promotions, and feeling too afraid to move on.
- it may look like perfectionism, and when you can’t achieve perfection (well because nobody can) you then verify that you can’t possibly move on to another job, because you haven’t perfected this one. And you feel stuck.
- your mind going blank.
- fatigued and exhaustion, and you haven’t really done a lot to feel that way
- standing still, or even like you have disassociated, like you are watching yourself feel stuck, but can’t seem to fix it.
- maybe you just feel numb.
Unfortunately for humans, life doesn’t just fix itself and carry on because we’re in freeze mode. Sometimes the hole we “dig” through inaction and staying at jobs too long gets larger and larger. And we can’t just shake it off and wake up to find that life is exactly where we need it be. I’ve had clients who were stuck in the same job, same boss over for 15 years! Nothing was fixed until she shifted out of freeze response to take clear and focused action.
This is why my VIP Career Services include doing more than just helping you get that next position. Although I do coach you to snag that new position. It’s also about doing more than coaching you on freeze response symptoms such as: blank mind, overwhelm, indecisiveness, ambivalence, or inability to speak and negotiate better work conditions.
Look for coaching that helps you go beyond those surface level symptoms and address the root causes of them so you can feel truly empowered to take control of your career and thrive!
It is so beneficial to get to the heart of the matter and dig deep into what’s really holding you back from becoming the best version of yourself in your career and relationship. This is the best way for shifting from operating in the freeze response mode in your career, as well as your relationships.
Get started with my free Success Mindset Worksheet.
As a Career Coach, I work with busy women executives struggling with self-criticism, impostor syndrome, and stress to increase their mental fitness so that they can feel at ease again in their own skin and confidently enjoy the careers and life they’ve built.
Rather than coach symptoms, I leverage my coaching so that that clients work on the root causes that threaten to sabotage their career and life. Which means that my clients see immediate change resulting in decreased stress, and ultimately increasing their confidence, and shifting from overwhelm to relaxation.
Leave a Reply