Just Do It
2025 - Exploring Fear, Regret, and Ambition
Usually, conversations at this time of year centre around New Year Resolutions but for this post we will zoom in on our mindset.
Resolutions usually centre on something we haven’t started yet and a lack of strategy on how to carry it out.
If you want to know how to make resolutions that stick, check out my research post on habits which talks about how to make and break them.
In the first post of the new year, we look at how to start on the right foot.
To kickstart, we will be looking at overcoming fear.
Abstract
How many times have you got in the way of your own progress?
How many times has fear triumphed urgency?
Growth manifests in times where we are unable to foresee the outcome of a situation but we try our best anyways.
This combats limiting beliefs that impact our mindset and start with fear.
Fear of the unknown.
Fear of commitment.
Fear of failure.
We learn more about ourselves and the thought here is whether our choices warrant progression.
Breaking preconceived notions is at the root of taking action when stepping into unfamiliar territory.
Despite this, we may step back, stand still, or walk away from something we once aspired to and this post explores what it means to apply oneself even when the outcome is unclear.
Discussion
Bite The Bullet
If you have the opportunity to do something you once aspired to? Just do it.
I think that we can forgo opportunities from unconsciously taking them for granted.
It could be complacency: ‘I’ve done something like this already and so I don’t need it anymore.’
We can fall into the fallacy of thinking that we know more than we actually do, which over time exposes deficiencies that may have an impact on what you are capable of doing.
On one hand, it is to be sensible and not say ‘yes’ all the time, but it is also about being honest with yourself and evaluating the potential benefits that are present.
Although I wouldn’t definitively pin it on complacency as everyone is different, in my life I have heard “I wish I did”, “I regret”, amongst other ways of communicating dissatisfaction with a past action.
You may have heard of this too, where the reasons that stopped a person from doing what was right seem all but futile now.
Whilst we have the opportunity, let’s take full grasp of it.
Throughout this post there will be a theme of being present and acknowledging the importance of doing what is best in the moment.
These are moments that multiply to make up your successes, your future aspirations, and the goals that come as a result of them.
Of recent months, I have had a fixation on taking action as a result of my reflections - a natural urgency to act based on the knowledge I have gained and the dots I have connected.
Something I have learnt in the past few years is that things become infinitely harder when you try to recoup an opportunity because you once shied away from it.
This was based on an understanding of my prior approach of only maximising my academic path to an extent, something I explored in detail in the Laziness v Complacency (LvC) series.
As previously discussed and through personal experience, I saw that failure to act led to regrets.
Not only this, but there is a lineage of opportunities that may never be realised if action hadn’t been taken, and this has knock-on effects on our future decision-making.
If a similar opportunity to the one forgone arises, power has already been given to the overthinking and self-doubt that works in cahoots to hold you back.
You then reside in the narrative that you are not ready or can’t do it.
You are better than this and have proven this before.
“Fear may manifest into mediocrity.”
To be where you are today, you will have faced uncertainty and done things you thought you couldn’t do, and the cycle remains the same.
But when it comes to things you may have idolised like entrepreneurship, like public speaking, like networking, you feel out of place when it comes time to step into the shoes of the person you want to be.
You have to realise that after taking your first step that your fears change, your initial expectations become meaningless, and you will have problems different to those that you have had before.
Giving into fear limits your exposure to what is possible and what you are capable of.
Before you know it the opportunity to step outside your comfort zone has passed, and without warning, this can become a habit.
Fear may manifest into mediocrity.
In my experience, bypassing fear is about embracing the process.
In my opinion, after not trying there is nothing worse than actually taking the opportunity and not putting in the effort to make it worthwhile.
A perfect example of this was when I had the idea of making a degree apprenticeship series on my LinkedIn.
At the root of this idea was an acknowledgement of the unique experience of balancing the International Baccalaureate and degree apprenticeship applications.
This forged a willpower, a discipline, and a level of grit I had never reached before.
Within this period, there were lessons I thought would be invaluable for the next applicants to hear.
This as well as knowing how to handle rejection, which comes back to the point:
“After not trying there is nothing worse than actually taking the opportunity and not putting in the effort to make it worthwhile.”
I knew that if I didn’t apply myself even in the unfamiliar territory I found myself in, that I would have regrets.
The two things I told myself throughout the application process were that I was trying my best and that the right opportunity will come as a result of my efforts.
Fast forward six months later, I just wanted to make the process easier for the next person.
Through perspective, calls-to-action, and key takeaways, I can proudly say I achieved this and helped a number of students who have reached out personally to tell me how much the series helped.
Behind the series was a weariness.
Fear of the unknown.
Fear of commitment.
Fear of failure.
But I knew that fear is a mental game.
The opportunity cost of partaking in this initiative half-heartedly would have been painful.
The feeling of my message not coming through how I intended it to and it falling on deaf ears would have been palpable.
Weeks of writing would have seemingly been a flop and gone to waste.
I say seemingly as there still could have been someone that benefitted but didn’t feel the urge to even engage.
On the flipside, I was glad I used part of my holiday to write this 3-month series.
It's been a year since the series ended, and based on recent figures I achieved:
70,000+ views
900+ engagements
Most importantly, I achieved what I set out to do - make the process easier and in turn help aspiring degree apprentices realise their goals.
By realising the impact, this served as a major contributor to take on another challenge immediately after, another initiative, and a different passion.
Without making the degree apprenticeship series, I wouldn’t have realised how impactful sharing experiences can be, and just two months after the series ended ‘The Thought Base’ was created.
Lessons
When you put your mind to something, you can do it.
Imposter syndrome was prevalent before I even put pen to paper to write the series of posts.
‘I’m just a year older than my target audience, why would they care?’
But I know there is nothing more valuable than sharing experiences when trying to make an impact.
It seemed backward that by giving into fear that many would miss out on what I had learnt and that unintentionally, I would be gatekeeping all the advice I could offer.
Urgency triumphed fear.
The idea to do such a thing came for a reason.
Understand that reason and the opportunity available to you.
If it is feasible, aligns with your purpose, and your innate reaction, why get in your own way?
We will have new experiences and opportunities where the type of fear will differ.
Therefore, it is not as clear cut as doing something for a first time and you’ll never experience fear - far from it.
From my view, becoming accustomed to trying and seeking new things reduces the inertia associated with making a decision (i.e. how decisive you are in the future).
You become more sure of yourself, what to expect, and have a better sense of what to look for.
Over the years, this decision-making accumulates and produces results you never thought were possible.
Moral of the story:
Just do it.
P.S.
Share this post with someone who you think it may benefit.
Have you made new year’s resolutions and are you going to stick to them? 👀