"Guys, go for it! Give yourself a dare! Is there any reason to not go for what you want?"
"I was once hesitant just like all of you guys, but everything changed the moment I jumped into it without thinking it twice!"
What are you hesitating about? What's holding you back? Just go for it!
At so many points throughout our lives, we face the times where we just don't know what to do with our lives. The times where we feel like we are not moving forward. The times where we feel like we are not making any progress. The times where we feel like we are stuck at a stagnant life.
As a senior in college, I am at this phase of my life where I should figure out what to do after college - am I going to grad school right after? If so, which grad schools should I apply to? Do I want to take some years off before going to grad school? Then, what kind of jobs should I be looking into? What about resumes? What about money? I face endless questions that I ask myself over and over again, lying in my bed before going to sleep. These questions give me intense anxiety because I honestly have no answer to any of those questions. Everything seems so uncertain and blurry.
Feeling like an elephant sitting on my chest, I have watched so many motivational/inspirational speeches or Ted talks about the stories of successful people. One thing that I have found in common about such anecdotes is that those successful people started from the very same place we are in right now, that those people were once just like us - confused, doubtful and insecure about their capabilities and future. Those stories entail the same moral that they intend to deliver to the audience - that we need to stop being afraid and jump into it. It does not work out to try to look into the future clouded with endless uncertainty, and to figure out how to deal with such. We know that we just need to launch into the adventure and take it from there.
However, the more I watch or read such motivational stories, the only thing that crept into and devoured my miserable self was the sense of alienation that those people were big names and already incredible, and I was just nothing compared to them. It seemed like those successful people in the stories jumped into their challenges rather so easily. In contrast, it was and is still never easy to jump into my challenges as did they, no matter how much I tell myself that I, too, can do it.
It's not that we don't know that we have to face our challenges and launch into the adventure. Rather, it's just that it is way too hard to pull up the guts to do so. As unfortunate as it is, courage is not something we can obtain by squeezing it out from somewhere inside of us. Some of us may be more adventurous and courageous, and some of us may not be like that. If we throw the aforementioned motivational stories at those who lack courage, all they find is their "cowardly" selves. It only brings them further down, rather than encourage them.
So, what we now need to do for our own sake is to try to look for our strengths. We need to stop focusing on our weaknesses and comparing ourselves to those great, successful people. We are afraid because we are caught up in lack of trust in ourselves. To move past our weaknesses and focus on our strengths, we need to be able to believe in ourselves, to feel that we are worthy. From now on, how about remind ourselves of our strengths and build from there?
*This article is inspired by the book, If Nothing Is Done, Nothing Happens.
