I spent the most pleasant evening tonight with a wonderful group of women who gathered for the Flourish book club meeting to discuss my book, Inner Architect. Flourish is the vision of Anne Marie Engel, whose mission is to support women in navigating the challenges of balancing career and life.

Pursuing your passions in your work was a thread that weaved throughout our discussions. These accomplished, well-educated women shared their thoughts about leaving a secure, established career to pursue their passions. When you have built a level of success in a profession, letting go comes with its share of angst.

• What will other people think about my decision?
• How do I let go of being one role to move into another?
• How will I survive the early times of making a lot less money?

Having done so myself three years ago, I could relate to these questions they shared. Looking back now, I can see that the answers didn’t come until I took steps forward. And the good news is that dealing with these questions has been so much easier than I anticipated.

Lesson: We tend to give more power to our fears than they deserve.

Put your toe in the water. Take tiny steps towards the career you want and see what happens. Chances are the very things you worry about the most turn out to be more manageable that you would have thought possible.