When It Feels Scary – Move Forward

Have you ever looked at something you want to achieve and thought, “There is absolutely no way I can do this”?

Maybe the goal feels too big.

Maybe the change feels too difficult.

Maybe you’re standing at the beginning of something unfamiliar, and fear is telling you to turn around before you even start.

I think we’ve all been there.

Sometimes, when we look at the entire journey ahead, it can feel so overwhelming that we don’t know where to begin. And when we don’t know where to begin, fear can take over. It can lock us in place.

But what if, instead of worrying about the whole journey, we simply concentrated on moving one foot forward?

One step at a time

I’ve always believed that big goals are achieved by breaking them down into smaller, manageable steps. Think about goal setting.

You start with the big picture. What is it you ultimately want to achieve? Then you work backwards. What needs to happen for you to get there? What comes before that? And before that? Eventually, that enormous goal becomes a series of smaller steps and suddenly, it doesn't look quite so frightening.

You don't have to climb the entire mountain today. You just need to take the next step. Sometimes that step might be tiny.

It might be making the phone call you've been putting off.

It might be having the difficult conversation.

It might be signing up for the course.

It might be saying yes to an opportunity that scares you.

It might simply be getting out of bed and deciding that today you are going to try.

Whatever it is, one step is still progress.

Fear doesn't mean stop

We often think being fearless means having no fear. I don't believe that. Fear is a very human response. It can warn us, protect us and make us think carefully about what we're doing. But sometimes fear becomes bigger than the thing we are actually afraid of.

We imagine everything that could go wrong.

What if I fail?

What if I can't do it

What will people think?

What if I make the wrong decision?

And before we know it, we've allowed something that hasn't even happened yet to stop us from moving forward. Fear has become the barrier. But what if we changed the question?

Instead of asking, “What if I can't do this?”

Ask yourself: “What is one thing I can do?”

That changes everything.

You don't need to know how you'll get all the way to the finish line. You just need to know where your next foot is going to land.

I’ve learned to keep moving

Throughout my life, there have been plenty of moments when the road ahead has looked pretty daunting.  I've had moments when I couldn't see how I was going to get from where I was to where I wanted to be. But I've learned that sometimes you don't need clarity about the entire journey. You just need enough courage to take the next step.

That might mean taking a deep breath and trying something you've never tried before. It might mean starting again after something hasn't worked. It might mean taking a step that feels incredibly small compared with the size of your goal. But don't underestimate small steps. A series of small steps can take you a very long way.

Don't let the size of the goal paralyse you

One of the biggest mistakes we can make is looking at the destination and forgetting about the journey. I learnt this from my sister after our crew missed out on a rowing spot at the Beijing Paralympics.  I thought the destination was the important part but she reminded me that it was the journey. If I loved doing something then continue to do it and the destination will come if it is supposed to.

Our crew training in Sydney at SIRC

We see the finished product and think, “I’ll never get there.” But nobody gets there in one giant leap. Every achievement is made up of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of individual decisions and actions.

The athlete standing on the podium didn't get there in one training session.

The entrepreneur didn't build their business in one day.

The author didn't write their book in one sitting.

The person who finally made a huge change in their life probably started with one very small decision.

They took one step. Then another. And another.

So, what is your next step?

Maybe right now you're facing something that feels scary.

Perhaps you're considering a career change, starting something new, setting a big goal, having a difficult conversation or simply making a decision you've been putting off.

Don't worry about the entire journey.

Look at the big picture, absolutely. Know where you want to go. Then work backwards and identify what needs to happen.

But once you've done that, bring your focus right back to the present.

What is the very next step?

Take it.

Then take the next one.

And when that little voice inside your head tells you that it's too hard, remind yourself that you don't have to do everything today.

You just have to move forward. Because sometimes courage doesn't look like a giant leap. Sometimes courage looks like putting one foot in front of the other when you're scared. And that one step might just be the beginning of something extraordinary.

When it feels scary – move forward.

Not all the way. Just one foot.

Then the other.

And keep going.