New Year, New Decision Anxiety

January tends to be the time when we review where we're at and our hopes for the year. Many of us will be thinking about making significant changes to careers or work but we can get stressed and feel stuck. Have you ever had that feeling where you can't make a decision on how to move forward and then subsequently feel huge amounts of stress and frustration because you know you're not moving forward at all? If I've just described how you feel at the moment, read on.

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When we're in this moment, part of what makes this situation worse is the amount of pressure that we apply on having to make the right decision. It's as if we think, ‘well I’ve failed at one thing so the next decision I make must be the right one, FOREVER. I cannot fail again'.

When you think about it, it's unreasonable to think that changing career or jobs must mean that you've failed. Why does change equal failure, and also, what is wrong with failing? And how can you guarantee that your next decision will be the right decision for the rest of your life? These are really difficult benchmarks that we are setting for ourselves and others.

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So what can we do? To overcome this frozen behaviour, decide on what small step(s) you can take towards moving away from where you are now. Not a big gesture, but something that will allow you to find out more about what you do want rather than what you don't. Anything that can help you discover what a new job or career could look like. That seemingly small step can be the catalyst to helping you get going. Also, don't only focus on what may happen if you fail; think about what might happen if it goes to plan…

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