That’s what one of my clients said when I asked her why not now. It’s not that she wasn’t ready– she just didn’t think she was.
She’s an incredibly talented writer. She’s considered applying to MFA programs for a while now. But somewhere along the way she convinced herself that she wasn’t ready.
What if she only gets into a good program, not a great one? she asks herself. But isn’t the real question whether you’re ready to believe in yourself? It takes faith and commitment to make the plunge. I get it.
All reasonable. All the last Horseman I wrote about: Shortsightedness. It’s not that you can’t see the horizon– it’s just that there’s a bunch of images in front of your destination, and they keep distracting you from what actually matters. It never feels like avoidance. It feels responsible. That’s the trap.
So I told her what I believe. Building the portfolio and applying are the same act. The deadline is the forcing mechanism. Waiting for the perfect writing sample is just a nicer way of never sending one.
We shrank it to one thing: start the application. This fall. Not someday.
She left the call lighter than she arrived.
If you’ve been circling something for months, waiting to feel ready: apply anyway.
Don’t put it off. What are you putting off?
#careerdoldrums #shortsightedness #careercoaching #makeworkwork #careercalibration