Do The Safe Thing Last
Let’s say you had 3 job options in front of you.
Something you’re sure you’d be good at but NOT sure whether you’d enjoy
Something you’re sure you’d enjoy but NOT sure if you’d be good at it
Something you’re sure you’d enjoy AND sure you’d be good at
Which option should you choose?
Most people would say: Option 3, duh! Case closed!
But I think you should do:
Option 2 first
Then Option 1 if that doesn’t work out
And keep Option 3 as your fallback
This is the difference between optimizing for safety vs. optimizing for learning.
Option 3 is the safest choice, no questions asked.
But chances are, if you’re reading this email, you already have plenty of safety.
Even if you do the riskiest thing that you could possibly imagine, what’s your true worst case scenario?
Going back to work at a company you’ve previously worked for? Or going to some other Fortune 500 firm?
Your worst case scenario is very, very safe.
(It might feel emotionally turbulent, but chances are your physical and financial needs will never be in serious danger.)
And when you already have so much safety…you don’t need even MORE safety!
It’s time to optimize for learning. Learning about yourself. Learning about the world. Learning about who you become when you step into different situations.
Will you be good at that thing you enjoy? I don’t know! Try it and see!
Can you find enjoyment in that thing you know you’re good at? I don’t know! Try it and see!
And if nothing works out, not only is your safe option always there waiting for you…
…but you’ll go into it a smarter, more resourceful, BRAVER person than if you’d spent 2 years just doing the safe thing.
In my job search & career change masterclass, I talked about thinking of your career as a series of robust, ongoing experiments rather than as a thing you figure out perfectly once and just “set and forget.”
And I talked about figuring things out by DOING, not by THINKING.
Consciously choosing to do the safe thing last is a concrete way to put those concepts into practice in your decision-making.
And if you’re reading all this and saying, “Oh man, this makes a ton of sense. I’d love to go after my dreams and really give it a shot… But I already know I’m going to stick with the safe thing. It’s just too scary to actually take that risk…”
Stop! It’s time to hire a coach.
You want something bigger.
The dream of the life you could be living is right there in front of you.
And the fear you’re feeling right now is 100% normal. Nothing is going wrong here.
But the fear is not a sign to stop or turn back.
It’s just a sign that you need structure, accountability, and to build the skillset of navigating through that fear to the clarity and confidence that live on the other side.
And that’s exactly what I provide my clients. So let’s get started today.
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