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Are You Ready?

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The same can happen when you’re amidst a career change. This change could look like any number of things:

• You might be changing fields.
• You might be changing occupations.
• You might be moving into a leadership role.
• You might be starting a business.

Are you ready?

Getting Stuck

These changes and many others can leave you reluctant to move forward. Despite your current skills and knowledge, you may need one more training course, certification, and a month to prepare. You’re convinced you’re not ready for many reasons.

The Unknown

When career change takes us somewhere we haven’t been before; we don’t know what to pack. Do we have all the items we need to bring? What if we prepare for one climate and find it completely different when we get there? Something is probably missing, no matter how well we planned our list.

Skill Lag

After just a few years of experience, most of us learn an important lesson – studying an activity doesn’t give us the skill needed to perform that activity. So, we certainly have an advantage over someone with no training. But we’re also aware that our skills aren’t where they need to be.

What is Ready?

The definition of ready reads in a suitable state for an activity, action, or situation; fully prepared. The troublesome words are the last two – fully prepared. For most tasks, the only people who are fully prepared are the ones who have been doing those tasks for multiple years! Therefore, we will never feel ready if we focus on this part of the definition.

Getting Unstuck

Fortunately, you don’t need to remain in doubtful inaction. Your preparation has likely put you in a better position than you realize.

Compensating Advantages

Experience provides us with some advantages that can make up for our lack of job-specific skills and knowledge.

• Knowing what we don’t know: We’re more aware of what areas we are lacking in.
• Quick learner: We’re also faster at determining what’s essential and concentrating on that.
• Problem-solving: We know how to find a solution to most problems, even if we don’t know the most effective response.

Rethinking Ready

Remember the first part of the definition of ready – in a suitable state for an activity, action, or situation. Even when we’re not fully prepared, we are often in a suitable state to face new situations and engage in new activities.

So…

Have you researched? Have you studied? Have you prepared? You’re ready – move forward!