(This is the first in a series of articles about transcending the feeling that we’re “trapped” in what we’re doing right now, whether in our careers or elsewhere.  If this article is helpful to you, you’ll probably find Part Two and Part Three useful as well.)

It often amazes me that so many highly-educated, highly-paid and high-powered professionals tell me that, although they want to change careers, they’re “trapped” in their current jobs.  They cite many reasons why making a transition would supposedly be impossible for them.  Some have entered into large financial commitments based on their expectation of a continuing huge income—they’ve taken out big mortgages and loans on expensive cars, enrolled their children in expensive schools, and so forth.  Some believe that they can’t take any financial risks, for fear of running out of money to support their kids.  Some believe they’re too young or old to start down another career path.  But whatever reasons they give me, I usually don’t buy them.

I can definitely identify with how they feel; I used to feel that way about my old career as an attorney.  I thought, for a seemingly endless list of reasons, that I’d effectively locked myself into being a lawyer for life.  I feared that all the skills and goodwill I’d accumulated in my four years of practicing law would “go to waste” if I did something else; that people wouldn’t take me seriously in my new career; that my family and friends wouldn’t respect me anymore; that I was “selling out” my future children; and so forth.  Although I wanted a change, the barriers to making a transition seemed impossibly high.

Interestingly, my perspective changed one day when a minor earthquake occurred in my area.  Luckily, the earthquake didn’t hurt anyone or destroy much property.  But it did prompt me to wonder what I’d do in the event of a disaster so severe that it completely changed my life.  What if an earthquake, nuclear attack, or some other catastrophic event destroyed everything I had and forced me to survive in the wilderness?  What kind of life, if any, could I create for myself?

Strangely, when I pondered how I’d react to such a disaster, I didn’t feel the anxiety that arose when I contemplated changing careers.  I imagined myself learning how to find food and shelter and protect myself in the wilderness, and eventually building a stable, tolerable life for myself.  I saw that I’m resourceful enough to do these things if I ever have to.  The prospect of leaving the legal profession, it seemed, was scarier to me than the thought of being forced to become a hunter-gatherer in the woods.

When I had this realization, it became clear to me that my fears of career transitions had to be overblown.  If I have the adaptability and determination to survive with nothing, I recognized, I must have enough of those qualities to get me through a job change.  Armed with this knowledge, I was able to make the transition I wanted, and it’s been just as enjoyable and fulfilling as I predicted.

I’ve asked clients who feel trapped in their present careers to play out this sort of disaster scenario in their minds, and consider how they’d handle it.  When they do this, they usually come to understand that making a career transition wouldn’t be so earth-shattering for them after all.  The realizations the exercise brings up about the real reasons these clients feel trapped are even more interesting.  Often, when they recognize that they could live—and even thrive—after a serious calamity, they understand that they aren’t really afraid that they won’t survive a career change.  Instead, they tend to see that they’re actually worried about one of two possible outcomes.

First, they may recognize that, although they want to pursue their true callings, they’re staying where they are because it’s comfortable.  They’ve been telling themselves they’re “trapped” in their current careers to avoid the feeling that they aren’t living up to their full potential.  When they acknowledge that the idea that they’re trapped is just a convenient story they tell themselves to justify staying comfortable, they feel more freedom to make the changes they desire.

Second, they may grasp that they’re actually worried about their loved ones and friends disdaining them for their decision.  They fear that they won’t be able to travel in the same social circles; that people will condemn them as irresponsible; that they won’t impress people as much when they describe what they do; and so on.  When they comprehend that nothing more than fear of others’ disapproval is driving their reluctance to change, they feel more empowered to pursue their goals.

If you want to make a career transition, but you’re stuck with the nagging feeling that you’re “trapped” in your current situation, I invite you to try the exercise I described.  Imagine that some massive calamity wiped out civilization as you know it, leaving you to survive in an unpredictable and often dangerous wilderness.  Get in touch with the part of you that could survive, and create a livable existence, in such an environment.  See how the problems you’d face if you changed careers pale in comparison to the challenges you’d encounter if you had to build a new life from scratch.  And yet, you have—right now—all the resources you need to meet those challenges.

Likely, this exercise will infuse you with a feeling of freedom to pursue your goals, and help you recognize—and, hopefully, overcome—the fears actually motivating your avoidance of change.

Related posts:

1. Life Is Too Short—But So What?
2. Would You “Survive” A Career Change?
3. Are You Really “Trapped,” Part Three: Do You Have The “Right” To Pursue Your Goals?
4. Releasing Our Need To Be “Taken Seriously”
5. Are You Really “Trapped,” Part Two: Facing The “Fear Of Freedom”