Sometimes a leap of faith isn’t what you thought it was going to be and you can wonder if your faith was misplaced when you took the leap.

A leap of faith is just that - a leap into the unknown with the faith that it will all work out in the end. But the unknown can throw up unanticipated challenges and how do we even know when is the ‘end’? How do we know when we’ve got there?

Things can turn out differently

I’ve taken quite a few leaps of faith in the last few years and more often than not things have turned out differently to my expectations. Notice I say differently here rather than better or worse. That’s because it’s a bit like swings and roundabouts - some things are easier than anticipated, some are harder. So it’s not better or worse, just different.

One of the things I’ve noted is that you only hear the success stories after a leap of faith. You don’t hear the stories of people still working through their leap of faith, or even those for who the leap didn’t work.

Does a leap of faith work every time? I’m not sure. There must be plenty of stories where a leap was taken and things went awry but those stories don’t get shared.

What’s the timeframe?

There is also no timeframe for when to say whether it worked or not. In today’s world we expect instant success. If it’s not all sorted within 6 months, is it a failure or is it still in progress?

Perhaps you take a leap and it doesn’t work out the way you wanted for 5-6 years. Was it worth it and is that a success? The question to ask here is are you in a better place than you were before you took the leap? By a better place that could be emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually or materially. Really it depends on what you were aiming to change in the first place.

For instance, if you’ve moved location and love your new home and lifestyle, but are struggling financially, was that worth the leap? Some would say yes, some would say no. I’m in the yes camp. It may not be perfect in every way, but in the majority of ways it’s better, and that’s what it’s all about.

It’s about radical change

Taking a leap is about making radical change as opposed to slow, incremental change. There may be a crisis, the last straw situation or some other driver that pushes you to make the decision for radical change and to trust that everything will work out. And if you think about it, things usually DO work out, but sometimes it’s not obvious until we look back.

I’m still in the midst of my radical changes. Things are still falling into place. It’s been three years of multiple radical changes in my life and it’s all taking longer than I had anticipated for everything to settle.

Does that mean they were the wrong decisions? Not at all, but I should note that at times I’ve questioned my decisions and been frustrated by the fact that it hasn’t all come together as anticipated. There have been times of anger, frustration, resentment, despair, worry, and anxiety. But those are moments punctuating more peace, satisfaction, contentment, joy and delight in my new world.

Stay strong and keep the faith

What it means is that if you are about to or have taken a leap of faith you have to stay strong, you have to keep the faith long after you’ve made the changes. You need to hang in there and keep your goal in mind because little by little, it all comes together.

I know for some people, they make these radical changes and it all magically seems to come together in a matter of months. That’s not the case for me, and I suspect it’s not the case for a lot of people, so I wanted to share that it’s okay to be ‘a leap of faith in progress’ rather than a success or fail option.

There’s loads of learning

The other thing we need to remember about a leap of faith is the learning that comes with it. If we stay in our comfortable but not necessarily happy scenario (whatever that might be) we are effectively stagnating and no longer learning or growing. Taking a leap will offer us challenges that expand our growth.

Those challenges can be minor or they can be daunting. We can crumple with them and run back to safety, or we can overcome them and find a new part of ourselves that we didn’t know was there before.

Often those challenges come in multiples. It’s not just one thing we need to overcome, it’s several things at a time, followed by several more, and then even more. It’s our own hero’s journey that we have to triumph over.

Reflection is a good thing

Reflection will tell us what we’ve learnt, how we’ve grown. Can you even measure a leap as success or failure? Perhaps it should be measured in growth and expansion, satisfaction and contentment, whether we have more joy in our life or less.

You may find that some areas are tougher where others are easier. When I look over all the leaps I’ve taken over the last few years, I’m pleased I’ve taken each leap, made those changes and set my life on a new course. There are still challenges to overcome and I’m slowly working my way through those but overall (and I think that’s the key thing here) all those leaps were a good thing.

If you are about to leap

So, for those of you about to leap into the great unknown, have the courage to do it. Don’t hold back because of fear of the unknown or fear of change, but do anticipate that there will be challenges for you to overcome and that it may be some time before you’ve met those challenges and grown because of them. Real change takes time and it takes persistence.

Here’s some thoughts to keep you going:

• A leap of faith is the impetus to make radical change

• Although the original change may be quick or sudden, it can take quite some time for the dust to settle. Hang in there and keep that faith because it will come together in the end

• Stories about successful leaps of faith come from those who have gone through it, not those who are in the midst of it.

• There will be unforeseen difficulties and challenges to face along the way. That is all part of the journey. Keep going. You will benefit in many ways from the growth that these challenges provide.

• There will be moments of anger, frustration and despair, where you question yourself and your reason for making this change. This is normal. Keep the faith. You made this change for a reason. Keep that reason in mind, allow yourself some time to calm down, give yourself some kindness and compassion, and then come at things again in a few days when you are probably feeling a bit better.

• Surround yourself with supportive people who believe in you and what you are doing. They will keep you going in the tough times and be of immense support when you start to question yourself and your actions.

• Have excellent self care routines and rituals. Looking after you is vital as you move through these changes.

• Reflect back every now and then and see how far you have come. You might be surprised just what you’ve achieved in a short space of time.

If you are thinking about making some radical changes and want some support or guidance along the way, please reach out. I understand just what it’s like and would love to support you through these changes.

Kàren