“Did everyone go all the way down to get your head underwater?” the swim teacher asked scanning the circle of kids before her eyes landed on me. How in the world did she know? Was she some sort of witch?

The last she had seen me, I was clearly bending my knees with the rest of the group right before everyone’s eyes closed & they went underwater. I was ready to do it myself before the thought of water flooding into my nostrils causing that cough-drool thing while semi-crying came rushing into my head & stopped me.

Interestingly enough, I LOVED being in the water. My family took camping trips in Minnesota to the lake where I’d crab-walk around in the shallow end of the lake until the sun was setting.

Perhaps I should have asked a few questions before signing up for these lessons, however, because I certainly was not expecting this brand of horror.

To make my face burn even hotter, the rest of the kids were now also looking at me with the top portion of my dark green one-piece swimsuit looking a much lighter shade from the bottom. Most telling, however? The wind slightly blowing my completely dry hair across my face. Busted.

How do they do this without plugging their nose? It defied logic to me. I was no scientist at the age of 6 but even I had a sense that this didn’t physically make sense &

I. Was. Terrified.

Obviously, I had a nose that didn’t work like everyone else’s. As unfortunate as it sounded, this activity just wasn’t in the cards for me.

Nope. Not doing it.

I’ve faced plenty of “nope, not doing it” moments since then. My subconscious brain still loves to whisper that I’m different and that other people are just built for success in ways that I’m not. And why wouldn’t it? It’s trying to protect me from drowning!

Here’s the thing, sometimes we’re capable of doing things that seem to defy the logic. Sometimes, we might surprise that overly protective subconscious brain that thinks it knows everything. And sometimes the only way to find out is to TRY IT.

Deciding to spend time figuring out what I really enjoy doing for work was a similar experience for me. What if I put all this work into trying to figure it out & end up finding out that I don’t really like doing anything at all? Now I’m not only in a somewhat dissatisfying situation but I’ve also confirmed that I don’t have a passion for ANY kind of work.

Nope. Not doing that either.

Then I started working with a coach. She helped me work through these fears that had previously stopped me dead in my tracks. She led me to the realization that sometimes the only way to move past the fear is to take action.

Turns out my nose wasn’t special after all (well, at least not for that reason ;-)). And neither are most of our fears. If you’d like to explore what it’s like to have someone in your corner helping you face the scary career stuff, head over to www.lifeelevatorcoaching.com& schedule a free consultation.

P.S. I learned to swim like a fish. And then I forgot. But that’s another story for another day.