A leap of faith is simply a jump from the known to the unknown.

What most people don’t realize, standing on the edge of that cliff, is that

they are jumping in to a much more powerful place than the one they’re departing from.

Within the “unknown” lies possibility, growth, and steering your life in a new direction. However, we like to hang on tight to the “known” – we feel safer knowing what’s going to happen every day.

The irony, of course, is that we don’t really know what’s going to happen every day. But the risk that tomorrow, or the next day, will change dynamically is less likely when cling to that safety.

An irony within that irony is when you want dynamic change, and hope that if you wait long enough in your safety zone, it will magically happen.

Waiting For Change

I clung to the safety of my corporate job for years. I wanted that dynamic change. When I realized I wanted to leave my job to do something else, I kept hoping to be laid off. It was much safer, in my esteem, to go with a package and have some seed Money. Layoffs came once, then twice a year. I waited with baited breath for the call each round, but was always safe. I even told my boss one year I’d be ok to be laid off. It still didn’t happen.

Five years of waiting later, I realized the universe was waiting for me to grab the bull by the horns and stand at the helm of my own life. And, with five years of savings, instead of a package, I had way more “seed” money than if I had been laid off years before.

The leap of faith, when I took it, was one of the most anti-climatic moments of my life.

How To Create The Change You Want

A leap of faith is scary, in itself, and, it can be a natural next step to fulfilling your dreams. Here are a few ideas on how to make it attainable if you’re thinking of traveling full-time:

1. Create savings. Take as much of your income and drive it to a savings account. Not just rainy day money, not just an emergency fund, just spend as little as you can, and put as much as you can into a savings account. The bigger it gets, the more confidence you’ll have
2. Step up to the challenge, one step at a time. While you’re building up your savings, look for ways to step outside your comfort zone. What can you do differently than usual? What’s a fear you have that you can challenge? For me, I came back from a vacation to Iceland, then booked a return trip the very next day, and told my boss I wouldn’t be in. That was huge! But, the biggest fear I had taking my leap of faith was telling my mom. Once I did that, all the fear about the leap disappeared, and it seemed the next logical step. Try laying out three things you’ll do to challenge your comfort zone, and tick them off in order from least scary, to most scary. (Once you do the first one, it gets easier!)
3. Lean in to your worries. Write down every worry you have that’s preventing you from taking the leap. Then, take each worry, one-at-a-time, and reframe it into a question. So, “I’m worried about ruining my Retirement” could become, “How can I take a leap AND secure my retirement?” As a question, do you see how your mind is now coming up with ideas, like, consult a financial planner, build a bridge to future opportunities, and so forth? There’s so much more power in a question, than in a fear.

The real truth about leaps of faith are that you have to have faith, in yourself, that without knowing how, you’ll end up ok. These are some of the first steps I took in my own journey that got me to that faith in myself. Looking back, I’m glad I found it! Are you ready to find yours?