Have you ever been called to make a bold decision – one that would change the course of your life forever – and hesitated?
What happened? Did you take that chance later on or did you pass on the opportunity all together?
Maybe you weren’t sure that the timing was right or that the circumstances were perfect. Maybe making the jump seemed too risky. Maybe if you had more certainty, had done more research, had gathered more facts …
What stops most of us from taking bold leaps of faith is uncertainty and fear. If only we could look into the future … if only we could anticipate the outcome and make sure we don’t fall flat on our face and make a fool of ourselves.
Yet, we can’t predict the future. So, we wait.
Which stops us from moving forward. Which doesn’t allow possibility.
Waiting stifles aliveness and nurtures fear.
By waiting, you linger between the world of action and the world of inaction. You haven’t said no, but you haven’t said yes, either.
Hesitation is stressful. It stops you from evolving. It creates emotional turmoil and puts pressure on your heart.
In most of your day-to-day activities, choosing hesitation instead of a clear yes or no, will diminish your aliveness and make your world smaller. So small, that you’ll feel boxed in.
A few years ago, one of my clients decided to quit her job. Her working situation had become unbearable and was causing her enormous stress and anxiety. Most importantly, it kept her from fully stepping into the business she had been creating on the side. A business she was passionate about and that had enormous potential to create wealth and happiness for her.
She felt that the time was right to step up her game, and together we had worked out a timeline for her departure.
When the time drew nearer to hand in her resignation, however, her fear became so strong that it caused her to have second thoughts – all of which started with “what if”: “What if I can’t find enough customers?” “What if I can’t generate enough money?” “What if I can’t pay my bills?” “What if I can’t make it work?” “What if I fail?”
In the end, her fear became so overwhelming that she postponed leaving her job. After initially feeling a huge surge of relief, she soon realized that she had merely delayed the decisions to take the next step. Waiting didn’t improve her current situation; on the contrary, it diminished her courage and made her question her decision even more.
Luckily, and after a few months of inner turmoil and anguish, she did quit her job and succeeded in building her business to a level of financial security and freedom.
Hesitation is detrimental to your success. It causes your courage to diminish and your fear to increase, which makes it progressively harder to step up your game. What’s more, extraordinary opportunities often don’t return, so grab them while you can.
My tip? When faced with a bold decision, choose a clear yes or no. It will save you from heartache and stress.
Now, I’d like to hear from you. What’s your experience in dealing with hesitation? Have you said yes to an opportunity – or stepped away from it? What was the outcome? We would love to hear your story in the comments below.
In next week’s post we’ll take this topic a bit further and find out how to develop the capacity to say yes.
Stay tuned, and as always, thank you for reading.
Karin
***
Do you have questions about overcoming hesitation? Post your comment below or simply write to me. I’d love to hear from you.
Interested in in living a life of purpose? I offer one-on-one consultations for women who want to find their gift, fall in love with themselves, and change the world. Shoot me an email to find out more!
To spread the word, please share this post with others using the icons below.
