If you’ve worked a recruitment desk long enough, you’ll recognise this pattern.

You’re about to do something that would actually move the needle. Level you up.

Call a huge client.
Raise your fees.
Do a big negotiation.
Post content that puts you out there.

And suddenly… you hesitate.

You decide the message needs rewriting.
You convince yourself the timing isn’t right.
You tell yourself you’ll do it tomorrow.

Instead, you tidy your inbox.
Rework the pipeline spreadsheet.
Scroll LinkedIn “for research” or “social listening”.

It looks like procrastination.

But in most cases, it’s not.

It’s actually your brain trying to protect you from what it perceives as risk. Let’s go deeper.

Why Growth Feels Like Risk To Your Brain

Recruitment is full of situations that trigger uncertainty.

Client rejection.
Candidate rejection.
Being visible in the market.
Having difficult commercial conversations.

From a biological perspective, your brain interprets many of these situations as potential threats.

Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux, who studies fear and threat processing, explains that the brain’s survival systems are designed to react quickly to anything that might signal danger – often before the rational part of the brain has evaluated the situation.

In other words, your nervous system reacts first.

Your logic catches up later.

Which is why right before doing something important on the desk, you might suddenly feel:

• hesitation
• doubt
• the urge to delay
• the urge to do something easier

Your brain isn’t trying to ruin your progress.

It’s trying to reduce perceived risk.

Why Recruiters Avoid The Very Actions That Create Results

Think about the actions that create real outcomes in recruitment.

They usually involve exposure.

Cold calling a new prospect.
Negotiating fees.
Being assertive or consultative.
Posting content that positions you publicly.

Those actions increase visibility and potential rejection.

And your nervous system prefers certainty over exposure.

So it quietly tries to redirect you toward safer tasks.

Things that feel productive but carry no real risk.

Updating notes.
Reorganising lists.
Researching.

Or reaching out via something that feels “safer” like LinkedIn, text message etc.

Psychologists refer to this pattern as avoidance behaviour.

It reduces anxiety in the short term but blocks progress in the long term.

And on a recruitment desk, avoidance most definitely has a cost.

Because unfortunately in the recruitment world, the uncomfortable actions are usually the ones that generate revenue.

So what can we do?

Step One: Turn The Emotion Into Data

The first move is simple.

Instead of reacting to the hesitation, describe it.

Write one sentence:

“I’m avoiding ______ because I feel ______.”

For example:

“I’m avoiding calling this client because I’m worried they’ll say no.”

Or:

“I’m delaying raising my fee because I’m concerned the client will push back.”

The moment you write this down, something important happens.

You move the experience from pure emotion into conscious awareness.

Research by neuroscientist Matthew Lieberman has shown that labelling emotions helps reduce activity in the brain’s threat centres while increasing activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part responsible for reasoning and decision making.

In simple terms:

Naming the reaction gives you your thinking brain back.

Step Two: Interrupt The Escape Pattern

Once hesitation appears, the next thing that usually follows is distraction.

Scrolling LinkedIn or social media.
Checking messages.
Starting another small task.

These behaviours provide a quick dopamine hit and temporarily reduce discomfort.

But they also reinforce avoidance.

So the rule is simple.

When you notice the urge to escape, replace it with one small forward action.

Not the entire strategy.

Just the next step.

Send the message.
Make the call.
Post the update.

Small actions matter because they reduce psychological resistance.

And once movement begins, momentum tends to follow.

Step Three: Grow Through Small Exposure

Many recruiters make the mistake of thinking growth requires one big leap.

It usually doesn’t.

Progress comes from gradual exposure to the things that feel uncomfortable.

For example:

If visibility feels intimidating, start with one thoughtful LinkedIn post rather than trying to build a full content strategy overnight.

If fee conversations feel difficult, practise holding firm on a slightly higher rate rather than doubling it immediately. Or if this even feels too heavy, practice having the fee conversation with a couple of colleagues first.

Each small exposure teaches your nervous system something important.

Nothing bad happened.

Psychologists call this exposure learning – a process where repeated safe experiences reduce the brain’s threat response over time.

Confidence grows from evidence.

And evidence comes from action.

Step Four: Stop Attacking Yourself

A mistake I see recruiters often make is turning hesitation into self-criticism.

“I always mess this up.”
“I’m terrible at this.”
“I should be better than this by now.”

But if I’m being super blunt – internal criticism actually increases the brain’s threat response. It doesn’t reduce it.

Which makes action harder, not easier.

A more useful approach is to recognise what’s actually happening.

Your nervous system is trying to protect you.

When you shift from self-attack to awareness, the pressure drops and your ability to act improves.

Step Five: Identify Your Personal Trigger Points

Every recruiter has certain areas where hesitation shows up more often.

For some, it’s money.

Negotiating fees.
Discussing salary.
Charging what they’re worth.

For others, it’s visibility.

Posting content.
Sharing opinions.
Building a personal brand.

And for some, it’s leadership.

Managing teams.
Making difficult decisions.
Holding people accountable.

These aren’t weaknesses. They’re signals.

They show you exactly where growth is happening.

Reflect on when you start to feel uncomfortable and you’ll pretty quickly figure out if there’s any patterns to your hesitate. Awareness is the first step to being able to put in a plan around behaviour avoidance.

The Moment Before Growth

It is an odd thing about progress is that it often arrives with discomfort.

That tight feeling right before you make the call.

The hesitation right before you press post.

The doubt right before you push your business forward.

Most people interpret that feeling as a sign to stop.

But in reality, it’s often a signal you’re about to expand beyond what your brain currently sees as safe.

The recruiters who grow the fastest aren’t the ones who never feel that resistance. They most definitely feel it. They’re the ones who are self aware enough to recognise it and move anyway.

Every time you act instead of retreating, you teach your brain something new.

Growth isn’t dangerous.