Okay, but when will you be ready?
The thing about fear is that it presents itself in so many forms that sometimes we fail to recognise it. I’m sure you’ve said these words before, I definitely have. Two years into what you thought was progressing relationship, he tells you he isn’t ready to commit. Five years into your career and you still aren’t ready to put yourself forward for that promotion. Twenty-one years into existence and you still aren’t ready to invest in your one, true passion.
Okay, fine, you aren’t ready yet, but why not? If you know what’s holding you back, then you know what the problem is; if you know what the problem is, you can find a solution; if you can find a solution, then you can make yourself ready, so what are you doing? What’s really holding you back?
Stop listening to fear. You may never be ready for anything, but your body doesn’t consult your feelings before it proceeds to grow, it just does. Sometimes such an approach is necessary for life. If you want to do it, go ahead and do it!
“Never let the fear of striking out stop you from playing the game” – Babe Ruth
Life is all about taking risks.
You will not always succeed, but you completely eliminate your chances when you refuse to try. Successful people don’t sit around waiting for an opportunity to fall into their lap, they consistently work hard, rising up to the challenges of life and along the way opportunity finds them.
I’m at that stage in my life now where I see old schoolmates getting engaged and having babies, and my first thought is always, “If it was me, would I be ready?” and often my answer is no, but ultimately, if it came down to it, I would have to find a way. Now I’m not saying we should all stop what we’re doing right this minute and make babies, but we should learn to adopt this approach to life. Taking opportunities as they came may not pay off every time, but every experience is a form of preparation for that one opportunity that will eventually lead to our success.
Learn to be spontaneous. Try it with small things first and train yourself.
I’m a fan of beauty vloggers, I’ve been watching makeup tutorials on YouTube for as long as I can remember, long before I started wearing makeup myself- not because I wanted to learn how to master the skill but because I just enjoyed watching (I know a few of you will understand this, S/O to Adi). When I eventually started wearing makeup, there were so many techniques I was aware of that I kept telling myself I simply wasn’t ready to try out. Long story short, at the turn of the year, when everyone was screaming out New Year New Me, I decided 2021 would be the year of New Year New Slay and I can indeed confirm that my highlight has not popped the same way since.
For years “I wasn’t ready” to join the gym. I wanted to be settled with the rest of my life and then slowly incorporate it into my routine. For three years I was waiting to settle the rest of my life. My life still isn’t settled. But one day I took the plunge and I’m happy I did. #SummerBodyAlwaysReady
Joining the gym or experimenting with the Morphe 35O palette isn’t exactly a life-changing decision, but it’s a start. Being more spontaneous is a habit that I needed to form. I like structure, I like planning and I like knowing what to expect, so it hasn’t been easy for me. But I’m warming to the idea very slowly… Change isn’t easy, I wrote about Embracing Evolution a while ago and I’m still discovering new pros and cons to my change every day: each a valuable lesson I may not have learnt otherwise.
“Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect” – Alan Cohen
To combat fear I’m often forced to ask myself three very simple questions:
- What’s the worst that could happen?
- Will I die?
- Has God ever let me down?
You don’t always need 100% to progress to the next stage; sometimes 99% is more than enough.
Don’t be like the servant who hid his talents rather than investing them (Matthew 25: 14–30), learn to progress by sowing the seeds you already have, in good harvest you are sure to reap much more than you have sown. (Matthew 13: 23)
So, are you ready yet?
All the best,
Tisha x
#Schmile
Great , and inspirational… oh yes .. I am ready !!. Thank you
Glad it was helpful- even more pleased to hear that you are ready! Thank you for reading 🙂
So true! Fear can hold us back, but why not just try? If you succeed great, if you fail, did you really fail? You grew, learned, and had an adventure along the way. Now if I could actually live this way…
Haha that’s the tough part- actually putting it into practice! But one step at a time! Thank you for reading 💙
Next time add my name to the title. This is so true and spoke to me on so many levels. Too often we let fear cripple us. It doesn’t hurt to try it can either be good or bad and also teach you a lesson. Thanks for sharing.
😂😂😂glad you can relate! Taking that first step is always the hardest but most rewarding part of the journey- all the best! Thank you for reading 💙
I like this post a lot. I must admit, I need to do things alone. I have a fear. I just don’t like going out to dinner or to the movies by myself. I was going to go to NY by myself, purchased the ticket and I didn’t go. I was so disappointed in myself. I needed to stop allowing fear to stop me. Thank you for this post.
I think everyone can relate- there are so many things I’ve backed out of last minute, even more so as you said when doing things alone bc you don’t have that push! But it’s always worth trying! Thank you for reading 💙
I agree that there’s no perfect time to do anything and that fear will keep you procrastinating so that you may never achieve the dreams of your heart.
The only thing that I will add is that sometimes things just feel right. When that happens–even when it is not a perfect time–I think God is trying to steer us toward the right decision in His time.
Thanks for opening up the discussion!
I completely agree and thank you so much- such a valid point! I’ve definitely sometimes simply ‘felt’ that the timing is write- but this won’t always be the case. Thank you for reading!x
This is so relevant right now. You’re totally right. I’m a huge procrastinator. So I really needed to read this LOL
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for reading x
You are so right! There is no such thing as the perfect time. I ask myself a very similar version of those same questions!!
So glad you agree- thank you so much for reading! x
Haha fear is this thing that holds us all back! Thank you for this! Bless! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for reading!💙
I think your three questions to combat fear are excellent, they’re something that I definitely need to incorporate into my life more! Thanks for this inspiring post!
Abbey 😘 http://www.abbeylouisarose.co.uk
So glad it was helpful! Thank you so much for reading x
Hi, I think we blame fear for putting many things of, sometimes its great to be spontaneous and enjoy it.
I’m learning more and more the benefits of being spontaneous- I definitely agree with this! Thank you for reading x
Great and inspirational post! <3
Thank you!💙
This article gave me life I needed to read this great article
So happy to hear that! Thank you💙
Wow. Until recently, I definitely let fear operate my life. I’ve already started on my journey, but this is jthe reassurance I needed. Thank you!
You’re welcome! Glad it was helpful! Thank you for reading 💙
Love this! I keep doing this to myself. I get overwhelmed by my lack of readiness before I start a new venture and I often don’t give it a try. needed to read this 🙂 Thanks!!!
So glad it’s relevant and helpful!!! Appreciate you reading 💙
My favorite mantra is “Just Do It!” NOW is always the right time!
100% agree! Thank you for reading😊
Very inspirational! Fear is crippling and can stop everyone from being successful. I’ve had to learn that fear gets you nowhere. I had to get over the fear of rejection, fear of judgement and more. Great post! More people need to hear this message.
I’m so glad you feel this way- thank you so much for the feedback!💙
This was such an awesome read! I’m in the transition right now, of building my brand and fear often creeps up! But, God has not given me a spirit of fear…but of love and a sound mind! I push and push! I will stop once the mission is complete! Thanks for this 😍
AMEN! So glad you enjoyed reading it- all the best to you! Thank you for reading 💙
Great article – I agree 100%!!
Thank you!😊
Great post! And as someone a but further along in life than you, I’ll say that the time to take those risks, step out of your comfort zone and not let fear beat you down is now. Don’t wait! Don’t let your life pass you by, because it does if you let it.
Thank you so much for the words of wisdom!!! Appreciate the feedback 💙
I love this. I always need to be reminded to take risks and go for it
All the best! Thank you for reading 💙
Excellent advice! We live so much of our lives in fear. There’s no reward without risks! I’m good for not doing something until I’m “ready”. But ready will never come until push yourself. Great read!
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it 💙
I kow all about feat because I used to be there but to God be the glory, no more!!! By the way, the post I just wrote is along the same lines as yours almost. Keep writing and inspiring!
AMEN! Love this! Please link me hun x
Thanks for reading 💙
Sorry about the typos…realized them after I pressed reply and it won’t let me edit, yikes!
Also, you’re welcome and here is my link!
http://iamnijahj.com/what-is-purpose/
This was so on time!! I’ve been holding myself back from so much lately and by doing that I’ve gotten even more sad and anti-social. So this was what I needed to get back on track! Great article!!!
So happy to hear that!!!! All the best!💙
I have enjoyed your blog so I have nominated you for the blogger recognition award! Head on over to my most recent post below to see what you need to do to pass it on! https://www.mindfulnessinfaithandfood.com/blogger-recognition-award/
Fear stops you from dreaming big- and it doesn’t just go away! You have to learn to do things in spite of fear!
Thank you so much for reading- I’m glad you could relate x
Very inspirational! I loved your tips!!
Thank you!x
This is so very true! I used to fear so many things, but I told myself that I can’t stay in my comfort zone my whole life.
Agreed- staying in a comfort zone won’t do you any good! Thanks for reading x
I am pretty fearless when it comes to career – however I do have some fears such as flying, water and sky diving – ha! But I feel like those are fears that well, I am allowed to have because they’re not halting me from living my every day life!
Haha I agree! I definitely won’t be combatting my fear of sky diving any time soon 😂
Such an inspirational piece of writing. I am very hesitant about trying something new… I need this!! Thank you 🙂
So glad it was helpful! Thank you for reading💙
Taking a leap to the unknown, starting something new, is defying and scary. But it it also an important step to grow and continuously develop. Thank you for the inspiration
Thank you so much for reading- I hope it was helpful!💙
It’s so interesting to understand how each of us steps forward into new experiences. Do you jump in and trust yourself to figure out what needs to happen in the moment? Do you try to anticipate everything that could go wrong to address it before it happens. Whatever your style, I think it’s important to understand how you succeed so that you can be intentional. That said, it’s so interesting to understand what it means to be ready for each of us. I love your passion for not letting fear stop you!
“Understand how you succeed so that you can be intentional” I love this! Thank you so much for sharing! 💙
In life things just hot you out of the blue so it really makes no sense to stay stuck we are never really ready for anything. I have been guilty of playing it safe . It’s baby steps for me but I can say I a slowing making progress 🙂 Great inspirational article .
Thank you so much! Glad you can relate! Baby steps are the way forward- we can’t stay stagnant forever!💙
I have been stagnant it is stifling .
We’ve all been there more times than we can count I’m sure 😂
Congratulations! I nominated you for the Blogger Recognition Award! Go to my blog to find out what to do next and how to pay it forward! (https://wp.me/p96iFq-48)
I’m one of the worst “I’m not ready” people ever. Coming from my academic nature, I spend the LONGEST time researching a thing before I actually do it lol. Before I started my blog it was postponed forever while I tried to find the perfect equation. And then finally one night at 2am I posted my first blog post because I was tired of waiting. Sometimes you have to leap.
I can totally relate! I took me nearly 2 years to start Behind the Smile bc I spent those 2 years calculating all the risks and writing essays in my head to justify why it was a bad idea. Sometimes we just have to act on impulse. Thank you for reading as always x
“Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect” – Alan Cohen” this right there. I used to be such a perfectionist. Being a perfectionist is paralyzing. You can’t ever wait for this to be perfect, you just have to do and perfect as you go
Definitely paralysing!!! Waiting for perfection will never get us anywhere! Thank you for reading x
love this! I go through those ‘I’m not ready’ phases often and reading this was so motivational!
Happy to hear it was helpful!!!! Thank you for reading 💙
This is fantastic. Like my mother always used to say “if people really waited to get married or have children until they were ready, no one would ever get married and no one would ever have children.”
Very true indeed!!! Thank you for reading💙
LOVE the “are you ready” flow chart that’s such an awesome idea 🖤🖤
Thank you so much!💙