LEAP INTO THE UNKNOWN: WHAT YOU ARE SEEKING IS WAITING FOR YOU THERE
It is the last week of January. For many this is also the week that we give up on the changes we committed to at the beginning of the month. Commitment to the idea that we can have the change we seek is hard — especially when that change involves shifting the very core of how we engage the world. In fact, many equity-minded leaders feel stuck because they worry that a change so significant could disappoint those who have depended on them. Equity-minded leaders question what gives them the right to have professional desires that don’t align with how others currently see them: What will others say? Will they be supportive or admonish them for being irresponsible, for leaving behind the work for which they have become known.
The fear and uncertainty are valid. The longer we stay in a role the more we receive validation for that particular role. Our colleagues, friends and family begin to see us as inseparable from the role we have held for so long. Despite this, we can never fully experience our impact if we are too afraid to move beyond the current reality, if we are unwilling to leap into the unknown confident that what we seek is possible .
The unknown is just that — a space where we don’t have all the answers or know who will be alongside us in the work. Yet, as I wrote about in the 12 Tips for Transitioning Careers, we must be able to name what we seek and take the first steps in order for our desires to become reality. As a popular quote states, “We create twice, once in the envisioning and naming of our desires, and secondly in the enactment.” While we may not know who is open and receptive to our desires, we must be willing to voice them. It is not enough to secretly desire a change. We must put words to our desires and then share those words with friends, family, colleagues, and strangers alike.
You Don’t Need All of the Answers
In a recent coaching conversation, a health equity leader expressed her frustration at not being able to share her new professional goals with her colleagues and family. In her attempts to communicate her desires, many of the conversations quickly shifted to what her colleagues and friends already understood about her professional life. The inability to engage made her second guess herself. It made her believe that she needed to wait for more of the answers before moving forward. I responded by acknowledging the fact that having all the right answers is a big component of success. Afterall, equity-minded leaders are often tapped because of their ability to solve problems and take into account the perspectives of all involved — particularly the most vulnerable. However, in the midst of important shifts, having all the answers may not be possible. Not only that, hesitation from the fear of not knowing exactly how things will materialize can delay our progress. To expand one’s impact, equity-minded leaders must trust their intuition and leap into the unknown.
I have experienced the importance of the leap. The last week of December, I challenged myself to share widely and broadly my 2022 goal to support 3,650 equity-minded leaders through coaching and writing support. I posted on my personal and business Facebook pages, my LinkedIn pages, Eventbrite, and within Facebook groups where I am generally a lurker. After a week of being bold and naming what I am seeking, I received several responses from people I could not place, people who were not friends-of-friends or a colleague-of-a-colleague. I have no idea how and when these individuals received my message. Yet, the week of posting affirmed that if I was willing to be bold and leap into the unknown, there would be people there eager and willing to accept and work with me. This experience shifted my thinking. Not only was I looking to support 3,650 equity-minded leaders, but there are also 3650 equity-minded leaders actively looking for the coaching and writing support that they need to expand their impact.
The professional shift you are seeking is seeking you. It is just waiting for you to take the first bold step of saying HERE I AM. Speaking into the unknown will be scary. The professional life you envision may seem invisible — no one you know is doing the work you imagine. The willingness to leap is much like the experience one has when first noticing a particular car model. Initially that model is invisible to us — we had no idea it existed, yet now that car model seems to be everywhere. It isn’t that the car just appeared; it is that we have opened our vision to be able to see it. Career transitions are much the same. However, just like the car, once you share the impact you are seeking to have upon the world with others, opportunities will arise.
A few months ago, I was waiting to meet Herb for dinner. I had been introduced to Herb after telling a friend that I needed a person smart with financial life planning to help me figure out how to make a big shift in my life. Herb and I had a few short email exchanges and phone conversations before this dinner, but we had never met in person. I was nervous, nervous to say aloud, face-to-face, the goals that I had for my life. The email and phone conversations were real — but not as real as being physically present. To ease my nervousness, I wandered across the street into a small gift shop. There I saw a small green stone with the words, “Whatever you’re seeking, it’s seeking you.”
The dinner with Herb left me with a clearer understanding of how to align my finances with my life goals. I also left thinking about that stone. It stayed on my mind for the next day as well — such a small but powerful statement. What I am seeking wants me to find it! The reminder was so important that I went back a few days after that dinner and purchased the stone.
It is time for equity-minded leaders, who have spent a majority of their career affirming that others deserve to leap and land on solid ground, to have that same affirmation. It is okay to center your needs. It is okay to listen to the core of your being. It is okay to not have all the answers and still leap into the unknown.
What you are seeking is seeking you. The world is just waiting for you to say:
HERE I AM!
Dr. Lanette Jimerson is a writer, educator and scholar. She helps equity-minded leaders expand their impact and craft a career trajectory that centers their professional and financial needs. Learn more at www.theliterateself.com
