First of all, a red light doesn’t mean you’ve failed. In actuality, you’ve taken an important, successful step -- you showed the courage to find out where you really are.

It’s been said that the first step is to define reality. Often, reality can seem harsh but it can also be a gift. And that’s what the Career Risk Calculator is all about -- a gift to you by helping you make the next, best decision in your career.

There’s something far worse than a red light. And that’s taking a leap when you’re not quite ready for it. What you are doing is getting ready for it by shrinking the gap through wisdom, due diligence and hard work. Your goal isn’t to be down on yourself. Your goal is to thank yourself for doing the work of understanding where you are and committing to doing the next best thing, which in your case is moving from red light to yellow light.

Here are three steps that will help you do just that:

1. INCREASE YOUR FINANCIAL MARGIN.

The biggest concern for most people when considering a career change or risk is the financial implications. As a result, most people get stuck. To get unstuck, let’s take steps to create some financial margin.

Let’s take an example from Financial Peace University which encourages people to save $1,000 for emergency situations. That’s a start. Ideally, we would like for you to have six months of financial margin in case no income comes in for six months. I know that can be a stretch for many of us, but remember, we’re not trying to get there over night.

Let’s start with $1,000. With this, and the next two steps, you can move to a yellow light. As John Maxwell encourages us, “Keep moving forward.”

2. NETWORK WITH THREE PEOPLE.

As the old adage says, “It’s not what you know that often matters. It’s who you know.”

Think about three people who you admire and has the experience you want to attain some day. Ask them to meet to discuss their story, the lessons they learned and then ask them two questions: “Who do you know that I need to know?” “What would you do if you were me?”

3. ASK FOUR PEOPLE THIS QUESTION.

As you look at my life and work, in what areas do you think I excel in and thrive? In other words, what do you think I’m good at? Take note of what they say and see if there are some consistent themes. They are often a big clue as to your next, best step.