Based on conversations with clients, friends and family and on my own experience, ‘fear of the unknown’ is the most common reason to put off your career change.

It sounds scary, doesn’t it? What’s out there?

Then when we start to explore this, it becomes clear that it’s not fear of ‘the unknown’ but fear of known, tangible things that can be addressed.

If this is you, here are some things you can do to help you overcome your fears and feel more confident about making the change you dream of.

Fear of the unknown usually breaks down into these areas:

You've been thinking of making a change in your career, but something is stopping you from actually doing it.

There are a range of reasons for this, and fear of the unknown is often top of the list.

Read on to learn how you can diminish your fear and replace it with confidence!

It's not the right time to make a change in my career

This is perfectly valid, there can be many reasons why it’s not the right time to make a change.

"I want to finish my qualification first."

"My partner has just been told their role is at risk of redundancy and we need stability."

"We're about to move house and need to show the mortgage company length of service."

"I've heard the jobs market isn't great just now so it's better to wait until next year."

"My friend recently changed jobs and regrets it - what if that happens to me?"

The key things to explore are:

• Are these valid facts, or assumptions? You may find you're talking yourself out of acting now, out of that 'fear of the unknown'!

• If now genuinely isn't the right time, when will be? Get a clear picture of what needs to be in place so you'll know when the time is right.

Having your clear vision of the realistic timescale with a Career Development Plan with goals and timetabled actions will enable you to make it happen when the time is right (because you really don’t want to be thinking the same thing in 1 / 3 / 5 years’ time, right?)

I don’t want to risk the financial security I have now.

Another valid point. Most of us need to earn a salary to pay our bills and enjoy life, and the thought of losing some of that is not easy. Questions I usually encourage people to explore include:

• Why would you have to risk your financial security? Often people simply lack the confidence that they’ll be able to earn the same if they move. When actually, it’s more common to receive a pay increase when you move roles if you’re staying within the same type of role, and especially if you're going for a promotion.

• If it is likely that you’ll need to take a reduction in salary, say if you’re making a complete change in what you do, how can you prepare for that? Are you clear on how much you do need to earn? Where can you reduce your outgoings? What can you put in place now and over the coming months to enable you to achieve your goal?

Most people I work with can make changes that enable them to reduce their cost of living. From downsizing your mortgage, delaying the purchase of that new car, to cutting out takeaways, every action you can take will move you closer to your goal.

I don’t have the skills and knowledge needed to make the change.

Yet! You don’t have the skills and knowledge needed to make the change, yet!

If you’re serious about making a change that requires new skills and / or knowledge – how can you get them? From broadening your experience through projects and secondments while in your current role, from gaining a new qualification, these things can be included within your career change plan.

Also do some research into how much of a skills / knowledge gap you really have. I’ve known people be convinced they need to gain a new qualification and when they start to really look into it, they find a way to make the change without the time and cost of the qualification.

I’m sure I have transferable skills to enable me to make the move but I don’t know how to tell employers about them.

This is actually a fairly easy one! Look at job ads for your ideal role – what skills are they looking for? Then spend some time thinking about when you’ve used these skills. Write down as many examples as you can remember.

You can also ask other people, for example your manager, colleagues, friends and family who understand what you do. Often others see things we don’t even think about.

Then break each example down into these steps:

• What was the business challenge or opportunity?

• What action did you take? (Using the skills required)

• What was the result? The benefits to the business, its customers, it employees?

Then you can create a CV that showcases your skills and achievements relevant to the role you want next.

I'm not confident I can make the career change I want.

One of the best ways I know to increase your career confidence is through understanding your strengths. When we really know what we’re great at AND what energises us, we’re able to see how we have used our strengths to perform at our best, and how we can use them to achieve our goals.

It’s an extremely powerful and motivating thing, sparking ideas and creating lightbulb moments.

If you’d love to start exploring your strengths you can complete a free Starter Profile here, and if you want a more indepth exploration check out my strengths coaching services.

I don’t know what I want to do.

My blog: How to change your career when you don’t know what you want to do will get you started with thinking through what you want to do.

And my Career Clarity programme is designed exactly with people like you in mind - find details here.

Do you now feel more confident you can make the change in your career you're dreaming of?

If you'd love some support to enable you to make your career change, check out my strengths and career change coaching services.

Hi, I'm Karen Felton

I love enabling people to understand their strengths and values, so they know what they want to do in their career and in their life.

When you understand your strengths and values, everything becomes clear and you can take your next steps with renewed confidence.

Learn more about me, here.