Feel the fear and do it anyway

I think back to a few years ago when I was still exploring lots of options outside of medicine and how at times it felt really difficult or overwhelming to consider changing careers. I had a gut feeling that I needed to keep digging, to keep trying different things, that something was eventually going to come along and stick. And I didn’t give up even when I had ongoing self-doubt and felt ‘trapped’ in medicine.

Fast forward to today, and the most ironic thing has happened. Now that I am building a business and earning income through my coaching, medicine has become my ‘side hustle’ and I am enjoying it so much more! My medicine work now involves a visit to an army base once a week, doing some army medicals, doing bit of paperwork, chatting to peers, and practising a bit of occupational medicine. It’s become something I look forward to because it is an area of medicine I still quite like, it is nice and sociable where I work, and because I have ultimate freedom – I choose when I want to work (I literally tell the lead clinician which shifts I want to do the next few weeks), I do just a few days a month, and I never have to work when I don’t want to.

Wow, even writing this now feels somehow like a dream. It is the dream I wrote again and again in my journals for years. Freedom – that word. I am now living that freedom, building a business around something I absolutely love (coaching), and finally getting to a point where medicine has become enjoyable – who could have guessed. I wouldn’t want to do it full time at all but doing a few shifts a month adds a bit of variety to my week, and it’s actually somewhat linked to my work as a coach because so much of what I do is helping people gain clarity around what they want, and often that involves a fresh start in a new career or business. My medical work is in the field of occupational medicine, which links health to work and vice versa, so it’s complementary to my coaching.

So why share this with you today? Well, because through my coaching work, and through my occupational medicine work, I continue to encounter so many people who are no longer enjoying their job or career, and want a change, but fear stops them. Trust me, I understand because I have battled with that fear time and time again. It’s amazing what the mind can do if we allow fear to take over – It literally convinces us of a story that has no real evidence or proof, and yet with wholeheartedly believe it.

I just want to share with you, in case you are one of those people who wishes they could do something different, but you feel ‘it’s too late’ or ‘others can do it, but I can’t, or ‘I am not good enough’. Whatever that limiting belief sounds like for you, please please challenge it. Do not believe it! It is genuinely not true. Changing careers is a process and doesn’t happen overnight. But it CAN happen! It really can! Since being on this journey, I’ve also met so many people who have changed careers, started their own businesses, or simply found a way to make their current career work better for them and their priorities. So, ask yourself ‘why not me?’ If others can do it, you can most certainly do it too.

I am referring to the past 2 years as ‘Year 0 of Business’ because I have been setting up and establishing my coaching business, alongside learning how to coach, and getting as much practice as possible – initially with pro bono clients, and then transitioning to paid clients. Year 1, in my mind, will begin the moment I get the Diploma certification and I can officially announce it. It ties in well with how I’ve gradually been progressing my business. I’ve had other businesses before, but never has a business venture resonated so much with me as this has. I genuinely love coaching – the more I learn about it, the more I understand just how powerful and life-changing it is. This journey of becoming a coach has been like an accelerated self-development course, where the only way for me to actually become a coach was to go through a full transformation myself first. And this is exactly what has happened. I am definitely not the person I was 2 years ago, and my only regret is not doing this sooner. I look back and my fears were all in my head. In reality, there were no downsides, and numerous upsides.

So, knowing I can challenge my fears and overcome them, I am more intentional about my decisions. If something feels big, scary and overwhelming, but something inside me tells me it’s something I want to try, I am now learning to listen to that gut feeling and saying yes. Last week, I said yes to something really huge, and this time next year I will know if it was worth it or not – I will let you know what this is in a blog post in February 2024! Ultimately, I’d rather try and not succeed, than fear trying and then living with regrets.

Wishing you a good week

With love

Marcela