Quicksand or freedom?

Have you found yourself in a serious rut lately? Although my personal life has been changing at the speed of light, my professional life has taken on the irresistible flavor of BLAND!  Don't get me wrong, before I left my job in Jacksonville I had enough challenges to fill up at least 90 hours of my week and was up for any number of possible promotions, however, the original passion I felt when I started my journey 10 years ago is gone.....and has been gone a LONG time.

I have a theory I am not alone in this feeling of apathy, boredom, and discontent, so why aren't people making a change? The sad flip side to this predicament is that this economy has made making any kind of professional move feel like an almost sure step into financial quicksand.  I imagine you sitting at your desk at the end of a particularly rough 14 hour day and thinking, "I simply cannot come back to this chair tomorrow, I won't put up with these unreasonable (hours, pay, verbal abuse, _______) another day! But I have a job......and I just heard Cindy was laid off on Friday...and Stacy has been unemployed for 14 months...and where would I go, no one is hiring. I don't want to do this anymore anyway, I want to do something DIFFERENT! But what?"  I would know, I did the same tug of war for in my head for the last two years.

Since I can't change the struggling economy overnight, let's focus on that last part, "I want to do something different, but what?!?"  Be honest with yourself for a moment, if you could have any choice of careers right now, what would you do? It's the age old question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  Doctor, lawyer, astronaut, and ballerina were classic answers when we were little, but our choices are absolutely endless now making it even harder to figure out.  We have to stop using the economic situation as our excuse and admit, we don't know what we want to be!

If the overwhelming career options don't paralyze you, then the obsession with perfection certainly will!  Our fear of failing can be the largest road block to even figuring out what we want to do much less putting together an action plan.  This fear is compounded even more with all the sad stories happening all around us.  The only way to truly find out what you want to do is to let yourself dream as if failing isn't an option.  This is something I have to practice consciously daily and sometimes even hourly, I ask myself "Am I truly experiencing ______ or am I letting my fears/self-conscience thoughts hinder me?"

I am challenging myself to think beyond my own fear and the fear of financial quicksand and start dreaming of what I can become.  I want to be ready to change and know how to recognize the opportunities when they come my way.  Here are some steps I am taking to reinvent Stephanie.  I would love to hear more ideas!

1. Start writing down things that you love. Sounds simple, but if you do this daily then a pattern will begin to show. Write down EVERYTHING, not just things you would assume are professional/career oriented.  
2. Take notice of when you feel envious of someone and figure out why. What does that person have/do that you want so badly?  For example, does it kill you to see your sister traveling to a different state each month with nurse career? Would you want to travel with your job?
3. Play What-if and really let yourself play out those scenarios (no fear).  
4. Get out of your comfort zone! Taking on a new activity, visiting a new place, meeting new people; these are all actions that make you escape your normal routine and might just jump start or inspire change. 

For me, starting this blog has been my "get out of comfort zone" action, apparently moving to a new state and changing my last name weren't enough change to get this gal in action!  I am finding new inspiration through the blogs I read every day and am so very grateful to finally be on my way to change.