Diving Into Opportunity: Three Tips for Keeping Steady When Taking Risks

Go for it. If you’re like me, those three words define career and life. Take risks, live with a sense of adventure, and rewards will follow. At the same time, those adventures can be dizzying, sometimes even frightening. How to stay grounded and healthy when you’ve left everything familiar or comforting behind you?

Recently, I changed jobs within Fidelity, going from a big regional center in Jacksonville to managing an investor center in Tampa. Almost everything about my life shifted all at once. I felt like I was jumping off a cliff, plunging into very different duties at work while trying to acclimate myself to a new city.

Cliff-diving certainly is thrilling, but the impact will knock the wind out of you if you’re not careful. In my first days in my new role, I realized that I faced a steeper learning curve than I anticipated, and I worried whether I was in over my head. Everything was so new, so unfamiliar. I was out way beyond my comfort zone.

Thanks to mentors, friends and loved ones, I’ve been able to settle in by taking advantage of some techniques for recharging and maintaining a healthy sense of self and optimism. These three things have especially worked for me:

Find a support buddy. Shortly after starting my new job, I recognized someone in a Zoom meeting. Like me, she had changed roles and moved to a new city. I reached out, and we became sounding boards for one another. We compare notes on work and finding your way in a new place. Though we come from different backgrounds, sharing the same new circumstances gave us an opportunity to understand and encourage one another. It has really helped to find a colleague (now a friend) who can relate to my challenges.

My mother is another support buddy. While she doesn’t have a job like mine or face the same specific challenges, she does know me best. She reminds me that when there is something I can do to remedy a concern of mine, there’s no point in waiting for someone else to do it—there are worries I need to tackle on my own. And if they’re out of my control, I should stop worrying. When you’re in unknown territory, don’t let go of the people who have always been there for you and who believe in you.

Sometimes support doesn’t come from a buddy at all but in the form of good information. Fidelity offers a treasure trove of resources on our Fidelity Investments Life Events website for people changing jobs or facing other major challenges. So do other employers and organizations. Take advantage of every support mechanism you can find.

 Stay in the “light room”: My boyfriend tells me this whenever I get stressed out. For us, staying in the “light room” means staying in a positive place mentally. Embracing at least one positive affirmation daily, something you’re proud of, even the tiniest thing, can help with that. Whether it’s a confidence-boosting interaction with a colleague or finding the local Target without GPS, each win lays a new foundation. Stay positive.

 Give yourself a break. I’m the kind of person who needs to be sure I’m able to recharge. When facing a new challenge, it’s tempting to focus only on work to the detriment of everything else—and before you know it, you’ve isolated yourself. Now I schedule and budget for treating myself, whether it’s getting my nails done or trying a buzzy new restaurant. Getting to know my new colleagues and building a sense of camaraderie is important—and so is exploring and appreciating my new surroundings. The remedy for isolation is to get out there and have some fun. I want to master my new role and feel at home.

 When your job and life both undergo a sea change, don’t neglect either one—they feed one another. A new role in a new office in a new city was a lot to take on all at once. But with the right support and strategies, taking the plunge—going for it—turned out to be as thrilling as I hoped it would be. And now I couldn’t be happier about the opportunities I’ve found in Tampa.

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