The AI Peppercorn Burger Moment
Many of us have moments in our lives where we just feel stuck. Or wake up after years of autopilot and say…
Whoa, what’s the point? Did I just waste the last 10 years of my life on this?
In 2015, I had that moment. I was sitting in a meeting at Red Robin corporate. There was a large group of people opining on… the AI Peppercorn burger.
Should we keep it on the menu or take it off?
I was awakened.
Is this what I want to work on? Is this my legacy?
Don’t get me wrong, menu decisions are important in the restaurant business. But I had this sinking feeling that I wasted so much time and now I was stuck.
I spent the next few weeks spiraling about wasted time until I realized I was making it worse by going down mental rabbit holes.
Here’s what I learned: don’t do that.
And by that, I mean catastrophizing career decisions. It can lead to heightened distress, increased anxiety, rumination, depression, and a sense of helplessness.
Worse, it reduces risk-taking. The very risk-taking that’s needed to make change happen in your life.
Here's what happens when we stay stuck in this cycle:
We watch other people build the lives we want while we're still 'planning.' We stay in jobs that drain us because the alternative feels too risky. We let our best ideas die in our heads because we can't figure out the perfect execution.
Meanwhile, time keeps moving. The mortgage still needs to be paid. And suddenly, five more years have passed, and we're having the same conversation with ourselves.
A healthier way to look at it is: how can I leverage where I’ve been to get what I want most in life & work?
Do you see how that’s different than, how did I get here and what’s the point?
Not only do we tend to take this approach looking back, we also overdramatize what it takes to move forward.
When we contemplate leaving where we are…
We fixate on financial security. Losing everything. Looking like a fool to all of our colleagues.
We want to get it so right… that we stay stuck where it is so wrong.
We’ve got to lower the temperature on our next move. While it’s tempting to frame it as a life or death, gotta-get-this-right decision, it’s often not.
We don’t need to make the move. We need to make the next move.
What are the 1-2 things we can start doing to move one step closer to what we want most?
I had a client who spent two years planning the perfect exit strategy, when what she really needed was to start freelancing one day a week to test the waters. Six months later, she had enough clients to make the leap confidently.
So, the key message this week is simple: The single biggest reason we stay stuck? Overdramatizing both our past and our future. Stop treating every career move like it's life or death. You're exactly where you need to be to make change happen.
Your coach,
Chris
P.S. Remember: You don't need to see the whole staircase. You just need to take the next step.
