You’ve finally made the decision. You are going to make a change. You know what you want, you’ve done your research, you’ve probably got a plan. Most likely it’s in your head, but it feels right.

You get up and go to work. You do a good job and have reached a senior level in your career. Everyone thinks you’re happy and you’ve got it made. You think maybe it’s a lot to leave behind.

The pull of the familiar is strong. But you know you want the change. That decision is made. But nothing is happening. You can’t find the time to do anything about it. And, if you do find time, you don’t have the motivation. Time and motivation never seem to align. Meanwhile the gap between your decision and taking action is getting bigger.

deciding isn’t doing.

You thought when you made the decision everything else would follow. You’re smart, you have a plan, an end goal. Why wouldn’t things fall into place?

Waiting for something to change is the quickest way to nothing changing. Almost eight years ago I started a new job, it was going to be my last job in my marketing career. But it wasn’t. Because I didn’t take action. My decision changed nothing in a practical sense. But my dissatisfaction in my job, and my career, became exhausting. Debilitating at times.

Now I can see that the decision wasn’t enough. Yes, it helped to direct me, but without action it didn’t move me. It became a dream rather than a goal. Worse, I defaulted to what I knew. My career was comfortable and there were still some things I wanted to achieve. Maybe I should focus on it. Then again, that’s not what I want. And so I went, round in circles. New jobs, new intentions and still nothing.

the cost of not doing.

For five years I went around in circles. Some days I was focused on my career, other days I dreamed about doing something else. I still thought of myself as a marketer. That wasn’t helping. It meant my focus was on ‘being a marketer’ and what that meant. Worse, the conversations I was having were marketing focused. No-one knew I did something else. No-one knew I was a coach. I didn’t talk about it because I didn’t see myself in that way.

Identity is hard to see when you’re in it, but with hindsight, how I thought of myself was one of the obstacles I had still to overcome. I was exhausted and spent a lot of time doubting myself.

When I first made my decision I tried a couple of options, neither were going to give me what I needed, and I didn’t focus my time or attention on them. That said, one of the opportunities introduced me to the world of self-development. This reignited my interest in psychology, led me to be fascinated by motivation and habits and, ultimately, introduced me to the idea of coaching.

what changed?

Nothing, immediately. I got my qualification and added a second one, Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). Then I started a side hustle in coaching. That’s what I told myself, but nothing was really happening. I was doing a lot of thinking, building a business in my head. I’d made my decision, and I thought I had a plan. But I didn’t.

Things still didn’t change. Not until I aligned my actions with my goals. I needed to get things out of my head and into a plan I could act on daily. The problem was that I hadn’t fully committed to leaving my marketing career. When I did, I became fully committed to coaching, all-in, no going back. This is when I started to think and talk about myself as a coach.

avoid the long way round.

I wish I’d known what I know now, eight years ago. I learned a lot from my journey, but it really didn’t have to be that long. Now I thrive in my new world, working with people to help them act on their decision much quicker than I did. Not shortcuts. They generally don’t last. I work on sustainable, incremental steps that are aligned with the decision that’s been made. This is how I approach my business now and it feels fun and exciting. What if you could do the same without taking eight years to get there?

I work with people who’ve made a decision but nothing’s happening. We build habits to move you forward. Interested? Book a call.