Dear readers,
Happy New Year! I wish you a year of clarity, advancement and contentment.
While we were gone…
We built a new website! It’s still very much a work in progress, and there has been very little activity on this blog since then. I'd like to chalk it all up to COVID, but in truth, other things have taken priority. The catalyst for this post, an upcoming job change, being one. I'm committing to publishing a monthly letter or post this year. I plan to increase this to weekly posts, but we will start slowly, build in the consistency and take it from there. This will be the start of something new. Making a public commitment is scary because it also means being accountable to the public. Thankfully, this is a small community (which doesn’t make you less important), so it’s less daunting.
Making a public commitment is scary because it also means being accountable to the public.
Why I'm writing about new beginnings
It’s the 1st January 2022 - a new year, and a popular time for starting new things. I am writing about new beginnings because as I mentioned before, I start a new job this month. My head and chest are filled with nervous energy. I'm so excited about this change and all the cool things I am going to learn and do but haven't been able to completely shake my fears about starting the work. All of my fears, worries and concerns are unoriginal:
Can I do this?
What if I am not good at this?
How will I rise to the new challenge?
Will I fit in?
What if I fail?
I don't want to fail. No one does.
I'm feeling what almost everyone feels before they embark on a new journey. I want to know how things will turn out before they’ve even started, and I want control over all related events. I have a slight aversion to being new/bad at something. It’s in my character to want to know how to do things perfectly before I even know what I'm doing. I don't want to fail. No one does.
I want to know how things will turn out before they start
Why new beginnings are so scary
Beginnings mark change. Change means unpredictability and uncertainty, which means, limited control. Often you’re stepping away from what you know and walking towards what you don’t. New beginnings require a degree of vulnerability because you’re taking a leap of faith, and it might be alone. Starting again or starting something new is scary because:
We don't know how things are going to turn out
We are afraid of failing.
Failure is what you build on, not success. Failure is the best way to figure out what isn’t working, why it’s not working, and how to make it work.
Failure is often viewed as being synonymous with laziness, unintelligence or incompetence but actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Failure is what you build on, not success. Failure is the best way to figure out what isn’t working, why it’s not working, and how to make it work. Failure is an opportunity for discovery, for learning and creativity. When you try out something new failure is a possible outcome, but not a guaranteed one. Regardless of the outcome, starting something new is a process and the faster you fail, the faster you can learn how to think and act differently.
I remind myself that success is more about the process than the outcome, and there are numerous failures before even one success.
How I'm managing this nervous energy
To combat my fears about starting my new job, I'm trying to focus on what I can control: my attitude, my preparation (which is mostly rest). I have accepted that sometimes I will try and fail, but being willing to fail and learn as quickly as possible is going to be my best chance at succeeding in my new job. When I was interviewing for my new role, I asked my interview this question: how do leaders in this organisation respond to failure? Their answer assured me that I would be joining a learning organisation. I won't be the first new person in the company, I won't be the first person to switch fields, and I am not the only person feeling nervous about the future. The best way to guarantee desired outcomes is to focus on improving the process, and that may come with some failure. I am using courage to face my fear - by being willing to be wrong or ignorant at first but right and wiser eventually. You can only try your best and sometimes that won’t be enough to succeed the first time, but in most cases, it will be enough to learn how to get there eventually.
Obviously, I'm not going to go out of my way to fail in a new role - success, value and achievement are important to me. But I remind myself that success is as much about learning from the process as it is about the overall outcome, and there might be numerous failures before any success. I spent a while applying for jobs last year before the offers started coming in. That learning process made me a shift gear and made me a more competitive candidate. Those rejections, failures if you like, led me to better opportunities.
Pay attention to the process and the things you can control such as your attitude and behaviour, accept the possibility of failure, view it as a roadmap to success, and endeavour to learn as much as possible.
Embracing change means things might go wrong, but that’s the risk we take in the pursuit of happiness and success because the alternative is doing nothing and leaving things exactly as they are but that isn’t progress or growth. New beginnings are scary when we realise we don't have control over how things are going to play out. Whether it's a new job, project, course or business, I encourage you to embrace change and the unknown with courage. Pay attention to the process and the things you can control such as your attitude and behaviour, accept the possibility of failure, view it as a roadmap to success, and endeavour to learn as much as possible.
This year I choose not to run from failure but learn from it. I hope you will too. Maybe new beginnings don’t have to be scary. Maybe yours will be great.