For a long time, I thought I needed to have everything figured out before I could step forward.
As a writer and author, I kept thinking I needed to have more ideas.
As an educationist, I thought I needed to learn one more thing before sharing what I knew.
As a visa consultant, I sometimes wondered whether there was more I needed to understand before putting my expertise out there.
And as an entrepreneur, I often told myself that the timing wasn’t quite right.
There was always another reason to wait.
I give excuses like
I need more time.
I’m not ready yet.
I need to learn more.
Maybe next time.
But over the years, I have come to realise something:
Sometimes, what we call “not being ready” is simply fear wearing a sensible disguise.
Fear of getting it wrong.
Fear of being judged.
Fear of being criticised.
Fear of discovering that perhaps we aren’t as good as we hoped.
Fear of stepping into a bigger version of ourselves.
And yet, every book I have written, every student I have guided, every person I have helped navigate an opportunity abroad, and every entrepreneurial idea I have pursued began with the same thing:
I decided to start before I felt completely ready.
You don’t have to know exactly where the journey will take you or figure everything out.
You simply have to be willing to take the next step.
Because while you are waiting to feel ready, someone with less experience may already be sharing their knowledge.
Someone with less exposure may already be building something meaningful.
Not because they know everything.
But because they decided to show up.
So now I ask myself, and perhaps you should ask yourself too:
If fear wasn’t making the decision for me, what would I be doing by this time next year?
And the question that matters even more:
What is really stopping me from starting today?
✍️ Amara Ann Unachukwu
