Mid-Career Changers Face Similar Perils as a Flying Trapeze Artist

Whether you are changing careers or simply changing jobs, both situations can be likened to being a flying trapeze artist. How so? You may ask. They involve risk, reflection, trust, and most certainly thrill.

The Platform. However it is that you have climbed the ladder thus far, you’ve reached the platform. The platform is where you are right now, in your career and in your life. It’s anchored, steady, and most likely predictable…even though it may be 60 feet in the air. There is a certain degree of security and comfort, regardless of whether it’s really where you want to be. The idea of jumping off the platform, especially in today’s economy, scares you to death. You look down and can barely see the safety net. You see the abyss; you fear being destroyed by whatever lies below. You say to yourself; “Tell me again why I want to jump off this platform?” But, for whatever reason there’s a tug. There’s this gnawing sense of discontentment, something is telling you there’s something more. If you just took a swing out there a ways, you might find something better.

The Fly Bar. So, you grab hold of the fly bar. Double check your grip. Here you go! You know you’re just going out there to take a look anyway, and then you can swing back to the security of the platform. So you jump… trepidation at first, then exhilaration. Your mind wanders to a place of possibility. You mention to a friend that you’ve been thinking about making a career change. You go to work and see the mirror of unrest in your colleagues. The urge to find something more grows stronger. Then there’s that grip again, it tightens and you hang on with everything you've got. Holding on to the fly bar is like hanging on to the tether of your life. It means hanging on to all of the things that have gotten you this far, but also all of the things that have kept you from getting what you want. AS you swing back toward the platform, you think, wait, I don't want to go back. You swing out again, this time with more confidence, and more conviction. You actually begin to enjoy the freedom of swinging, of looking at new possibility. Off in the distance you see another fly bar coming your way. It’s not really clear, but you sense that it holds great promise. Your grip tightens again. As it approaches you realize that in order to grasp the new fly bar you must release your grip on the present one. You must actually be willing to fly, to hurtle across the space of the unknown, to face the beliefs and stories that are holding you back, and to have the courage to move beyond them.

The Leap. Letting Go is the hardest and scariest part of the process. The possibility that the new fly bar holds becomes clearer as it swings toward you again. Your mind is reeling, “this bar I’m holding now, the platform I left is really not that bad”, “I should hang on to what I have”, “most people would be happy to have the job I have right now”, “if I let go, there’s no turning back”. The struggle to release your hold on the known for the unknown is immense. The beliefs you hold as truths have been crafted over time and in many ways have become the pillars of your life, but also the bars of your cell. The new fly bar is in sight again, the opportunity is now! You let go. You sore across the dark void, eternity encapsulated in a few seconds, the past is gone and the future is not yet here. You are in the transition zone. You’re anxious to grab hold of something new. You see the bars and platforms as real, but are unsure about the space inbetween. The reality is, transition is the richest place. Along with the fear and feelings of being out of control, it is the place of being most alive, where passion is re-ignited, where growth occurs, where space is created by letting go of the things that have been holding you back. In transforming your need to immediately grab that new bar, any bar, you’re able to dwell in the place where real change happens.

The New Fly Bar. It is within reach now and you grab hold. There is a sense of relief as you tighten your grip once again. Your enthusiasm, passion, and energy are renewed. The thrill of traversing the void and swinging toward the new platform surges through your body and mind. You think back for a second to the old platform and the bar you released. The beliefs you’ve held onto so tightly while still a memory, no longer hold you in their grip. This is a time of building, of possibility, of reaching new potential. Abraham Maslow refers to this upward swing as becoming self-actualized, a place of moving toward fully utilizing your talents, capacities, and potentialities. As you fly toward your new platform, you use this time to imagine the impossible, to rekindle the dreams you had put on hold. You give yourself permission to say “yes, why not” rather than “no, I can’t do that”. You take full measure of your swing for it’s the gift of becoming new once again.

The New Platform. You made it! You’ve chosen a new platform. Congratulations!
The flight of your career, and in many ways for your life in general, is much like the flying trapeze artist. Taking the risk to realize your dreams can be scary. Reflecting and letting go of limiting beliefs can open you to the richness of what is to come. By trusting in possibility and riding the thrill of realization you move to new heights, to new platforms. The question now becomes, “When will you fly again”?