Do You Walk Away Or Try Harder?
Career choices are some of the hardest decisions we make in life.
BONUS CONTENT: 10 Decision Destroyers You Need to Stop Right Now
There are moments in each of our lives where we have to make important career decisions.
It’s not always easy.
In fact, it’s almost never easy. Sometimes it can be downright agonizing.
I’ve seen it time and time again with my clients. They’re faced with multiple options that all have advantages and drawbacks, and they don’t know which way to go.
Sometimes pursuing dreams gets pitted against staying in a stable but uninspired career. Or they may have to decide whether to walk away from a project that just isn’t working.
They know their decision could change the course of their careers...and their lives.
All they want to do is GET IT RIGHT, but they aren’t sure how.
Usually they find themselves:
Looking for that gut instinct to follow
Guided by their emotions
Worried about change
All of that is normal. Those are factors most people take into account when making a decision.
But unfortunately, all those factors will do is help you make the wrong decision.
Let’s apply them to the following example:
You’ve been working at a marketing company for three years now and have simultaneously been running your own hardcore fitness YouTube channel on the side. Three months ago, you hit a new milestone - 90,000 subscribers!
Only 10K subscribers to go before YouTube gives you a partner manager to support your growth… to support your dream of being a full-time YouTube fitness guru.
So far, your YouTube efforts have netted you some cash - definitely not enough to live on, but now that you’re about to hit six figure subscribers, things are bound to change.
After all, you’re on a roll. And you know that the top fitness YouTubers earn millions per year. You can be one of them. You just need to devote all of your time, effort and energy to your YouTube channel.
But how can you possibly have the time to do that while maintaining a full-time job?
Working at the marketing firm, you’ve saved up enough money to cover your living expenses for the next six months while you build your YouTube success.
It’s time to walk away from your 9-5 and pursue your dream.
And once you do, you’re finally going to get what you really want…
Freedom over your schedule… the ability to be your own boss and call the shots… recognition as a successful young fitness entrepreneur…
Just the thought has you juiced, ready to begin this new chapter in your life. Your mind’s made up, you’re going for it!
The next day at work, your boss calls you in for a meeting. She tells you what an incredible job you’ve been doing and how lucky the company is to have you.
You nod, grateful for the acknowledgment of how much value you add to the team. You really are good at your job.
You’re about to thank her for all that she’s taught you and wish the company well when she hits you with a curveball…
There’s a new position opening up and it’s yours. The promotion comes with a new title (you’ve finally made it to management level!) and a $10K salary bump.
You’re speechless. You weren’t expecting such an offer. You were ready to hightail it out of there for YouTube stardom.
But now you’re not so sure…
You’re wondering if you should turn down the promotion and walk away from the firm to pursue your YouTube dreams…
Or if you should stay and keep advancing at the firm…
Or whether you should try and juggle both...
When faced with such a major decision, like most of us, you’re likely to react in a way that is driven by your emotions… or worse, your ego. That is a recipe for bad decision making.
Gut Instincts
Many people will tell you to trust your gut. But what does that even mean? Is your gut the all-knowing entity that is bound to make the best decision? Not even close.
Following your gut is a shortcut to avoid doing the necessary research and planning required to make a solid decision.
Let’s say in the above example, your gut tells you to pursue your YouTube dreams.
You decide to follow your gut and quit your job immediately. Now you have all the time in the world to devote to your channel.
Only…
You have no plan on how to amass an additional 10K subscribers…
And you find you lack the discipline to spend hours each day working on this project…
Now, six months later, you’ve run through your savings and are back to looking for full-time work. Was your gut right?
It may have been, but without proper research and a plan in place, relying on your gut to make such an important decision is never enough.
Emotions
Emotions can get the best of us, especially when it comes to decision making. How many decisions are motivated out of love, fear, guilt, or anger? A lot. But operating out of these emotions does not make for optimal outcomes.
You're excited that your YouTube channel is doing well. You’ve finally hit 90K subscribers and can feel the momentum in your favor. It’s only a matter of time before you hit 100K and your whole life changes!Right? Or is that assumption your emotions at play?
Are you aware that there are over 200,000 YouTube channels with 100K+ subscribers? Or that YouTubers with 1.4 million views per month still don’t make enough money to live on?
How do you plan to stand out among those 200,000+ blogs? How do you plan to make enough money to live on with your channel? Have you given it any thought?
Your excitement will only take you so far. Don’t let it coax you into a decision you will regret...
Change
Many times our comfort zone stands in the way of our decision making. You may have a bold new opportunity but are afraid to take the leap because it doesn’t provide the same security - financial and otherwise - that your current position does.
Let’s say you’ve done your research and have a solid plan in place for how you can amass those extra 10K subscribers in the next two months. You’ve also penciled out a marketing strategy to help you bring in new sponsors for your channel and generate more views, and in turn, more revenue.
You even have a contingency plan in place if you are not earning enough income from YouTube within your six-month grace period.
You want to take the leap and are well-prepared, but something is holding you back.
You can’t help but think…
You’re so good at your job and know you’d be even better in a management role…
Maybe the fact that the promotion came up now means that it’s not the right time to pursue your YouTube dreams…
You’ve NEVER been without a salaried job in your life. It’s a foreign concept to you…
In this case, you may be holding on to what is familiar. You know you’re good at marketing - heck, you have a promotion to prove it! What if you’re not good at being a Youtube fitness guru? What if you fall flat on your face?
Well, you cannot predict the future. You have a plan and are prepared to take the leap towards your dreams. Focusing solely on familiarity, and staying in your comfort zone will not help you make the best decision.
At the end of the day, there is no guaranteed outcome or way to predict with 100% what will happen in the future. However, there is a way to make the BEST decision possible for you.
A decision that will prevent you from making a horrible mistake…
A decision that will keep you on track for success in the long run…
And in order to make that decision, you need to avoid the decision destroyers that most people fall victim to. That even you probably fall victim to, especially when there is a lot at stake.
These powerful forces can hijack even the smartest person’s ability to make a good decision. I even fell victim to them before I learned how to identify and destroy them!
That’s why I’ve dedicated my career to helping people make better decisions. So that they can pursue their dreams and succeed without making the mistakes most people make.
And that’s exactly what I want to do for you.
Get your free copy of my guide, Top 10 Decision Destroyers You Need Stop Right Now and start making the best decisions of your life.
Good luck!