Part of what makes it scary to tell people you are thinking of trying something new is that it raises ‘exposure fear’:  What if they don’t approve? What if they laugh at me? What if they think I can’t succeed? But the fact is, until you talk about it, you won’t succeed! You need the info and contacts that come from talking, and you need the support that talking can bring.

Just as important, you need to hear yourself describe your vision over and over again – because each time you hear yourself say it, something magical happens: you believe a little more it will happen. The first time you say it, it sounds like fantasy – me a banker, becoming a movie director? By the twentieth time, though, with all you’ve learned, the vision will have evolved. Details will be added; the vision will be more concrete. With other people’s stories under your belt, you may even be imagining the bridge from here to there. What once sounded like a fantasy is starting to sound more like the beginning of a plan.

But until you start believing in that plan, it will never come to pass. At root, we are all a set of self – fulfilling prophecies: we accomplish what we believe we will accomplish in our lives and nothing more. So practice believing in your dream career. Talk it up in glowing, confident terms, because the more clearly and often you describe it, the more you enable yourself to make it real.

Of course, some people will be naysayers. It’s unavoidable. Some people just naturally leap to the negative, some will be jealous that you are making a switch that they themselves are or were afraid to make, some will always value ‘practicality’ over passion. That’s okay. Once you find out who your naysayers are, just don’t talk to them about your plan. If they bring it up, gently change the subject.  Fortunately, for every naysayer you will find multiple supporters: friends, family, colleagues and new people you meet will rally around to prompt you on. Some will root for you because they love you, some because they wish they could do such a courageous thing themselves, some because they can’t wait to become customers of your business! The support you get from the people you talk to can be so valuable that you won’t be able to proceed without it. Every creative professional who tells their story in the Hero’s Journey and Heroine’s Journey project has said the exact same thing — I could not have done this without the support of and then they mentioned names of family and friends who urged them on, who encouraged them when they felt down, who continued to believe in them and their vision all the way through the process.

Your Travel Guide

Read on for a detailed breakdown of The Hero’s Journey in Paris – Testdrive Your Dreamjob