—
Everyone one of us has things we want to accomplish. The most difficult thing we encounter when setting goals is taking the first step.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I know the main thing that holds me back from making the first step is a fear of failure — ironically that is also the thing that draws me towards setting a new goal in the first place. Along with failure, I have a willingness to push outside my comfort zone and learn new things.
While challenging to do, risk-taking is necessary if we want to improve our lives.
There is a lot we achieve in our lives, but nothing worth accomplishing is just going to get handed to us. It took me a while to accept that fact of life. If like me you have struggled in the past with taking risks, I want to share some advice.
The first thing I recommend doing is looking beyond any failure associated with whatever risk your taking. I used to be afraid that I wasn’t smart enough to have a career in technology. I would tell myself that I wouldn’t be able to learn code. That was a horrible mindframe to have.
Things started to change once I looked past failure. I started replacing those thoughts with positive ones.
Instead of believing I would fail, I imagined what it would look like if I achieved my goal of a career change into a field of technology. I’m glad I did that. Looking past failure allowed me to also take the time to have a clear and specific understanding of my goal.
When I envisioned what achieving my goal would look like, I begin to ask myself why? Why did I even want to do it? That question lead to other questions, like what? What would it take to achieve my goal?
Once I identified what it would take to achieve my goal of going into the field of information technology, I was able to identify obstacles.
What would I need to overcome to reach my goal? I had no prior programming experience, no experience with web development, and knew nothing of how computers functioned. To overcome this problem, I realized I would have to get a basic understanding of the field and sign up for study aids that would help me achieve my learning goals.
My last two pieces of advice are to start immediately after identifying your obstacles and enjoy the journey.
Like when a man is approaching a female, the more he thinks about what he is gonna say, the more likely he won’t do it. Instead of being like that guy, just approach your goal and get started.
Lastly, enjoy the career change. Like taking a road trip, the road to achieving your goal is just as exciting as the journey itself. You have to make life enjoyable when setting a new goal, if not you might find yourself getting discouraged when you come across roadblocks and setbacks along the way.
It was a challenge to take the first step to a career change, but that’s what made it exciting and worth doing. Setting a goal that challenged me allowed me to learn about new things, make new friends, and have a new career. Look past failure, get specific as to why you want the goal, identify any obstacles and make a plan for overcoming them.
After doing those things start working towards your goal and enjoy every moment.
—
—