For me, one of the hardest parts about making a career change was learning to sit with the uncertainty, the confusion and the questions.
This was something I never dealt with before during my medical career. There was always a well defined next step. All I had to do was follow the instructions to get to the next level.
I remember during my senior year of college many of my friends didn’t know what they would be doing after graduation. They didn’t have jobs lined up yet and weren’t sure what was next for them. I felt so relieved I had already been accepted into medical school in the fall and didn’t have to deal with that uncertainty. Not knowing what was next seemed like torture to me.
This may be something you are struggling with as well: fear of the unknown, fear of uncertainty. If you are thinking about making a career change, this may be one of the things holding you back.
Oftentimes fear of the unknown can keep us stuck, especially those of us who are risk averse and used to a high level of stability. When you do the path off undergrad, medical school, residency, it’s all laid out for you. So to think about leaving that safe little path and venturing into the unknown where nothing is laid out for you…. that is anxiety provoking.
We can fear the unknown to such a high degree that we would rather stay in our current, known situation. Even if our current situation consists of tears, panic attacks, burnout and dread. We would rather keep the pain that is known and familiar than risk stepping into the unknown. .
I don’t think I ever got “rid of” my fear of the unknown. Instead, I hit a place of burnout and rock bottom that made the pain of staying worse than any fear of leaving.
For the past two years now, I’ve basically been doing an immersion therapy for myself. You know how when someone has a fear of spiders and to help them get over it, they have to spend time immersed with spiders (that actually sounds horrifying)? I’ve unintentionally done that for myself with my “fear of the unknown” and have learned so much about myself and how to manage this fear in the process. In this post I want to share with you what I’ve learned and how I deal with the uncertainty on a regular basis.
When left my medical career, to become a digital nomad I essentially catapulted myself into the unknown. I didn’t pursue any of the traditional non clinical paths of pharmaceuticals, healthcare consulting, medical device sales, etc. I stepped onto a path that few people had traveled before (so far I’ve met one other person). I went from working a stable job with a stable paycheck and living in the same apartment in the same city, to traveling the world and starting my own online business.
Suffice it to say, the lifestyle I’ve currently chosen is rife with instability and uncertainty.
I don’t have a stable home base and am moving around to different apartments, different cities, different countries every few weeks. I also am in the early phases of building up my online business so there is income instability there. Some months are great and I have more than enough to get by and other months I’m dipping into my savings and wondering if this thing is really going to take off.
It can be unsettling. Sometimes I feel so ungrounded like a top spinning into the abyss. Sometimes it hits me like wave of disorientation- that feeling of being untethered. Sometimes I feel a homesickness which is confusing because I don’t exactly know what I am homesick for. There is no geographical location that I currently consider my home. Sometimes the instability makes me so anxious that I start having panic attacks and want to hide under my covers all day.
In these moments, I crave stability and certainty.
I’ve learned that the need for stability and certainty is a human need. I am not immune to this need, and I crave stability just as much as the next person. It’s something I can’t just ignore. Even if I want a life full of excitement and adventure (which I absolutely do), I have to pay attention to this basic need for stability and certainty. With this in mind, I’ve learned how to fill this need for myself in more creative ways.
The main way I fill this need for myself is with grounding routines. Routines are my anchor. They serve the purpose of creating a sense of certainty and stability in my otherwise unpredictable and chaotic life. No matter where I am in the world, when I wake up and do my regular yoga, meditation and journaling I feel centered in myself. There is comfort in the ritual and repetition of it. Going through the same physical motions every morning feels like a sigh of relief. It makes me feel safe.
Each morning I wake up. I turn to my yoga mat and do the same familiar vinyasa sequence to salute the sun. I turn on insight timer and spend 5-10 minutes meditating and connecting with myself. I open up my journal and revisit the same series of prompts. I focus in on gratitude, positive affirmations, and my goals for the day.
By the end of this sequence I feel anchored. I feel grounded. I feel centered.
We think we need stability and certainty from our outside circumstances, but I’ve found that we can actually create this same sense of stability within ourselves my implementing routines.
Besides this simple morning routine, I have other anchors that make me feel grounded and give me a sense of certainty and stability. Every time I settle into a new apartment, I have a ritual where I savor my first cup of coffee in my new place. This is what makes it feel like I’m home. I have other rituals that I do for every new moon and full moon. I have a sister circle of 4 other female entrepreneurs I meet with every week.
These routines give me the sense of stability I crave. Usually when I feel unstable and ungrounded, it’s because I’ve stopped practicing my routines and I know that there’s a simple way to feel centered again.
So if you are interested in making a career change, or traveling the world, but fear of the unknown is holding you back, I’ve got some advice for you. Start working to create this sense of stability and certainty for yourself from the inside. Start implementing routines that make you feel grounded, centered and strong- whatever those look like for you.
The need for certainty is a human need. We all require some degree of stability. But that stability doesn’t have to come from external circumstances like a steady paycheck or a known career path. You can learn to create this stability and certainty within yourself.
