Four common types of career fear

If you’ve been on a call with me or are a client of mine, you’ve probably had me ask you “What are you afraid of?”

There are essentially four ways in which fear will show up in your career.

Fear of Failure - If you are avoiding stepping up at work and aren’t seeking out more challenging tasks and opportunities for growth in case you stuff up, this is you. We ALL experience a fear of failure at some stage in life. It’s completely normal to weigh up the risks before embarking on something new. When you’re scared of failure, you do everything you can to avoid it. But failure often doesn’t happen, and if it does it doesn’t always feel that bad.

Fear of Rejection - This shows up as not applying for jobs or promotions in case you are unsuccessful, or not asking for pay rises or flexible work arrangements, in case you are told ‘no’. Rejection hurts. It feels really personal even when it often isn’t. But the only way to get that job, promotion, pay rise, flexible work arrangement, or ANYTHING? Ask for it.

Fear of Change - I see this the most often with people who are a bit ‘meh’ or ‘bleurgh’. They feel flat, uninspired or lacklustre about their career/job, but things aren’t hideous enough to spur action. They tend to overstay in jobs and worry that where they go next might be worse than where they are now. They convince themselves that as things ‘aren’t that bad’, they would be foolish to make a change. They are competent at what they do, but have most likely started to lose their edge at work and are showing up on autopilot.

Fear of Success - What if we get this ‘thing’ (typically a new job, at a more senior level or a career change) that we’ve wanted so badly, and worked so hard for, and it’s snatched away from us, or we lose it? Maybe it was just a fluke we got it in the first place. Imposter Syndrome is without a doubt, one of the most common ‘things’ I see in my coaching work. Sometimes people will struggle with the new you, and that’s ok. YOU might struggle with the new you or be resisting your own desire to step into that more empowered, more confident, more successful version of you. After all, we are programmed to not be “too much” of anything.