You want to make a bold change in your life but your options feel risky.

What if you leave your job and can’t find another one?  What if you start your own business and get sick without health insurance?  What if your spouse gets tired of supporting your dream and leaves?

There will always be two choruses: those who think you’re crazy and those who advise “everything will be fine.”

Deep down, you want to listen to the voices of encouragement.  You want to give more room in your life to the positive instead of the negative.

But the negatives are pretty persuasive.

Have you ever found yourself wavering on a big decision, unsure of whether or not you should believe those irritating voices in your head?

They talk of failing, of looking dumb, of losing your house, your friends, and your reputation.

Most people will tell you to ignore the voices.  It’s just your fear talking.

But what if your fear is right?

I’m a big proponent of optimism, but I also think it’s smart to build a safety net before you leap.  After all, we know we’re supposed to develop escape plans in case of fire or look for the nearest exit on the plane, which may be in front of or behind us.

But most of us don’t.  We’re afraid to look.  Because planning for the worst means spending too much time with the things we’re most afraid of.

So we tell ourselves we don’t need to plan.  That it’s all a very unlikely occurrence anyway.

Until it isn’t.

Turns out, you can make your plans without keeping yourself up at night with worry.  The trick?  Learn from someone who’s already had her worst fears come true … and landed back on her feet.

You know, rationally, that everyone makes mistakes.

But it hasn’t just been one mistake.

It’s been one mistake after another.  Doozies.  Pursuing the wrong career, trusting the wrong person, buying a house at the wrong time, wasting time on the wrong opportunities.

And you just can’t do it again.  Every decision feels enormous and risky. You’ve been blindsided by what felt like good, rational choices in the past, and your confidence just can’t afford another hit.

You dream of a better life, but the fear is crippling.

I know because I’ve been there.  I attended the Air Force Academy to escape a domineering father, only to discover the Air Force wasn’t much better.  I was so devastated when the man I thought I was going to marry ran off with someone else, I hooked up with a bipolar man who killed my cat.  I made a series of decisions all with the goal of getting my Ph.D., only to discover I didn’t like graduate school.

There were times that for all the outward success, I felt like a complete disaster.  I can remember sitting on the porch in the dead of winter one night, feeling so self-destructive and down on myself, I didn’t want to go back inside.

Years later, when it came time to leave the security of my job (along with all my retirement benefits), I really, really didn’t want to be wrong again.  I’m still haunted by the idea that maybe I don’t have it figured out, that this new path I’ve taken will also turn out to be a wrong turn.

I’m not a fan of list posts, but the truth is, there’s no silver bullet solution to this problem.  There’s no mental switch you can flip that suddenly turns you into a confident, competent decision maker.

But over time, I have discovered a series of strategies that can help.  Here are 15 ideas to get in touch with your inner voice, get your life back on track, and to harness the confidence to keep pursuing your dreams.