On Friday I was having a conversation with someone about his varied career practicing law. Though he’s been a lawyer for several decades, his bath is rather unorthodox as he’d practiced in a number of different specialties and now serves as the vice chairman of a large firm. As someone who has had a varied career, I’m always interested in hearing what makes people change course and what has served as their catalyst for change. This lawyer had a very simple answer:
“I chart my career. On the vertical access I’ve got fear and on the horizontal access I’ve got boredom. Every time I started in a new field I’d be all the way in the top left – high fear, no boredom. Over time, I move down the curve of fear and closer to boredom. Once those two cross, I know it’s time to do something else.”
That way of thinking resonates with me, too. I actually enjoy biting off more than I can chew; I get a rush from the doubt of wondering if I can really do what I’ve set out to do. It gives me drive and stokes my determination. It took a long time to get there.
When I worked in company management on Broadway shows and national tours, I had the great privilege of working with Petula Clark on Sunset Boulevard. I always got her meal so she could eat in her dressing room between the two shows on Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes she’d feel chatty so I’d stay and keep her company during dinner. She once asked me if I ever acted. I’d done some college productions and some work in summer stock, though never wanted to pursue the field professionally.
“Why not?” she asked me.
“I have terrible stage fright. I throw up every time before I go on stage,” I said, more than a little embarrassed.
“We’re all a little stage fright, dear,” she said. “The good ones never lose that fear. Keeps us on our toes.”
I liked that idea. I still didn’t want to be an actress and I wasn’t quite sure I believed Petula. She was famously supportive and kind, particularly to young people in the company. I thought she was just saying that to make me feel better. Years later I realized she was absolutely serious. I learned to use my stage fright productively – to help me stay prepared and on point at every turn.
If Petula Clark and this attorney had a conversation about career, I have a feeling they’d see eye-to-eye. The fear we have in starting a new adventure is really quite a gift. It gives us the chance to really feel alive, to feel like we’re taking on something so much bigger than ourselves. We’re going out along our edge to see just how far we can reach. It’s always thrilling to find that the ground out there at the edge is so much more stable that we imagine it to be, and not by happenstance, but because our determination and hard work makes it so.
Christa Avampato 
I like these thoughts, Christa. That using fear to fuel us is a good thing, and takes away its negative impact. I also heard somewhere that just before speaking, when you feel that last inkling of fear, wiggle your toes – a quick distraction that gives you a jumpstart into your presentation. Used it a couple of times successfully. Love you.
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I love the wiggle your toes idea. I’m going to give it a try next time I need it!
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I like the axes concept! I have a friend who has a friend whose career change strategy has often been to walk into her boss’ office and say “I’m bored, I need something else” (I don’t recommend this for everyone!). My DH says that in observing me over the years, as well as himself, it’s 2-3 years to be really proficient in a particular job, to the point where it’s not really a challenge – and that becomes dissatisfying and we start looking around for something else.
A little bit of performance anxiety or stage fright can be helpful, but for some people it’s too much. It’s good to know yourself enough to know when to push and when not to.
I read something recently that said “if you put yourself in challenging/stretch situations, and you surround yourself with people who are better than you at whatever you’re trying to do, you WILL improve” – growth isn’t always a comfortable process. (I like some of the concepts Gretchen Rubin puts forth in The Happiness Project about this idea.)
One more thought – I don’t know who the quote is from, but I like it:
“Your current safe boundaries were once unknown frontiers.”
I remind myself that for every single thing I now know how to do or have done, there was a time when I hadn’t ever done it, learned it, didn’t know how to do it, and it may have scared me a little or a lot – but I did it.
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MJ,
I love that quote! Going to use it in a future post and will credit you heartily.
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