Fear and Negotiation

Never give up; you never know until you try.

As we near the end of another semester, my mind turns once again to beginnings and endings and the fear that can come with them.  Students are graduating.  People everywhere are searching for jobs, moving to new locales for opportunities, or planning moves for better opportunities.  The whole process involves careful research and planning and, hopefully, prayer.  If someone receives a job offer, he or she has to decide whether to negotiate for a better salary.  It can be a wonderful time, and it can be extremely stressful, crazy-making, and scary.

I've written before about fear, quoting the line from "Who Moved My Cheese?" (by Spencer Johnson) that asks the reader what he or she would do if he or she weren't afraid.  When I feel fearful about something, that's the question I ask myself. 

President Kennedy said, "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." (http://www.brainyquote.com/)  Dictionary.com lists several definitions for "negotiate."  One is "to manage, transact, or conduct," and one is "to arrange for or bring about by discussion and settlement of terms."  I think that covers what someone may encounter in a job search/salary negotiation/relocation scenario.  As you go through the process, don't do it in fear, and don't let fear stop you from doing it.