Why is it so hard to take the plunge? Why is it so hard to ‘Just do it?’ To just go for it? A giant leap of faith and trust in instinct is what we need, and yet that’s the most elusive. Why do we fear drastic changes? What stops us from treading the unknown? 

There’ll be umpteen inhibitions that obstruct change. More drastic the change, the more the opposing force. Each one believes that they face unique kinds of resistance. But, when we try to scrutinize the elements that deter us from any kind of change, you’ll be surprised to know that the causes more or less are one of the below. The ‘whole’ impeding force that works against you can be summarized into four categories.  

Familiarity – We find our comfortable space in the familiar. Familiarity means less friction and adaption. Unless a huge force acts on you, you will not budge (Newton’s first law of motion, remember?). There are times when however difficult it gets, a person will not do anything to change it. They practice what they’ve been hearing for ages- ‘The known devil is better than the unknown.’ When in reality, you don’t know the unknown. It could be worse but at the same time it could be far better too. There are people who rot in their jobs or relationships and do nothing about it simply because the effort to change is perceived to be arduous. and Somewhere, they don’t want to move away from their familiar territory. 

Fear of failure – There is a doubt that often appears when you are about to embark on something new or different- ‘What if I fail?’ The older you get and the more difficulties you face in life, that doubt turns into a nagging pain point. Your life makes you over-cautious, and you over-analyze the risks involved. You assess them to such a stage that you deter doing it. You fear facing the consequences of failure. The simple truth is, you won’t know if you are going to fail unless you do it! You have to learn to overcome this fear. 

Conviction- Courage – An extension of the above. When you lack conviction, you become jittery and fail. Conviction is a quality that you need to possess if you want to change anything. You may have self-doubts, but as long as it doesn’t prevent you from progressing, you are good to go. To bring forth any change, we need confidence and courage; these founding pillars have to be solid, and only you can control it. 

World works differently – We live in a world where conformity leads to acceptance. You can fit in only if you follow conventionality. Somehow, if you don’t, you are ostracized by society. You believe what you want to do is unacceptable because the world works differently. Yet, whoever has succeeded had to go against norms. You have to understand that the world is evolving, and it will continue to work differently. You would probably be a spoke for that change. In order to do that, you have to ignore what the world thinks. 

When contemplating huge decisions, we may face some or all of the above. We may not be able to solve all of it, but if we can accept them and somehow work around it before leaping forward, the counterforce will lessen. In the end, after scrutiny and assessment, if you wish to change anything in your life, big or small, you have to just go for it. You will automatically be equipped to face its aftermath. So, go ahead. ‘Just do it!’