Phrases people say when stuck at work (and what's behind them)

If you’re thinking about a career change, even if it's ever so slightly, you’ve probably had one or more of the following thoughts:

• “What if I make the wrong move and can’t come back from it?”
• “What if I lose my financial security and regret it?”
• “I’m scared I’ll lose credibility if I walk away.”
• “Will people think I’ve failed if I start over now?”
• “I’ve invested so much in this career, was it all a waste?”
• “What if I try something new and I’m just not good at it?”
• “Am I too old to be figuring this out?”
• “What if there is no ‘right’ path for me?”
• “What if I end up in the same situation, just in a different place?”
• “What if I disappoint everyone by choosing what I want?”

These are more than passing doubts, and they're often an indication of where power has been misplaced in your life. I believe most people aren’t afraid of change, but the consequences they imagine change will bring. It's the fears around change (career or otherwise) that stop people in their tracks.

For example, you might fear irreversible failure.

This might sound like "What if I make the wrong move and can’t come back from it?" This is rooted in a scarcity mindset trained into many professionals. You’ve been taught that career moves must be linear, strategic, and permanent. That you get one shot, and if you “waste” it, your credibility collapses.

This simply isn't true, but the system you’re working in benefits from you believing it is. Why? Fear keeps people compliant, and it keeps them working late, saying yes and shrinking dreams to fit within an org chart.

Coaching helps you see that most career decisions are not really cliffs, even though they feel like it. Rather, they're doorways and some open to better rooms. Some show you what you don’t want, and this is still progress.

You may also fear letting people down. Whether it’s your boss, your partner, your parents, or your inner critic. Many people wrestle with this: “What if I disappoint everyone by choosing what I want?”

If you’ve been overperforming your whole life to meet other people’s expectations, choosing yourself will feel like betrayal. It’s not, but it’s liberation, but that liberation requires internal power, not just external action. That’s why we go beyond surface-level career mapping. We explore how your beliefs about worth, responsibility, and identity got formed. We name what you’re really afraid of and separate that from what’s actually true.

You might also fear losing what you’ve built. "I’ve invested so much in this career, was it all a waste?” or “What if I lose my financial security and regret it?” These are all valid concerns, but they’re also often used as excuses to stay stuck.

You haven’t wasted anything. The skills, insights, and experience you’ve gained are real, even if you’re ready to apply them elsewhere. The problem isn’t your past. It’s the pressure to justify staying in it, even when it no longer fits.

Of course, with anything, there is risk, and that is very much real, but so is the cost of avoidance. One year from now, will you be grateful you stayed still? Or will you wish you’d trusted yourself sooner?

So, what do you do with these fears? You can name them like we’ve just done. You can challenge the stories that keep you small and and you learn to make decisions not from panic or pressure, but from clarity and self-respect.

That’s what career coaching at this level is: not “just get a new job,” but what does power look like when you stop outsourcing it?

In coaching, clients begin to understand that they don’t just change roles. Rather, they change the way they see themselves. They stop asking 'What’s wrong with me?' and start asking, 'What kind of life do I actually want?'

They stop living in reaction to pressure or performance reviews. They start making decisions based on what matters to them, not just what looks good on paper. They get clear on what they value, what they need, and what they’re no longer willing to tolerate.

When they speak in interviews or leadership meetings, it’s not rehearsed or over-explained. They’re not trying to impress anymore. They’re clear on where they want to go. They stop trying to earn space in rooms that drain them. Instead, they build a working life where they can speak plainly, lead honestly, and be themselves.

This isn’t about sounding confident but about feeling in control of your choices and being done with proving yourself to others. If these questions hit home, and you’re ready to answer them with more than just overthinking, reach out to a professional.

You’re not stuck. You’re just ready for a different kind of conversation.