You don’t need confidence. You need courage.

The biggest thing keeping you from the life you want right now probably isn’t failure. It’s comfort.

We get lost in the comfort, even if it may not be what we want, and fear the unknown. Comfort can become a prison when we only feel safe in what’s familiar.

We stay in routines, relationships, and jobs that no longer fit simply because what's outside those walls feels uncertain, and so when change or the thought of change comes to us, it feels suffocating. It feels like we have locked ourselves inside a room where the door has been unlocked all along; we were just afraid to open it.

I have had many doors like this. One of the biggest came when I got pregnant at 19. I was in a relationship that wasn’t healthy, but I was terrified to be a single mom. Walking away meant stepping into the unknown. Looking back, it was one of the hardest and yet best decisions I’ve ever made.

We may fear starting over alone in life, starting a new job, or looking like a failure to others. This fear of failure is really just fear of judgment. I have come to realize, though, more than anything, we tend to judge ourselves the most, and we tend to give the judgment of others far more power over us than it deserves. I think this was one of the hardest things for me to learn and come to understand.

I almost didn’t start this blog due to the fear of what others would think or because of the little thoughts in my head asking me “what if the blog fails, what if it doesn’t help anyone, or thinking no one’s going to care.”

I’d say we tend to think that failure is the opposite of success, but it’s not. When you can learn to accept that failure comes with being human, it can become a beautiful thing. Failure teaches us lessons that success never could. Every mistake becomes information we can use to grow.

But growing is something that only happens when we leave our comfort zone. Sometimes growth means accepting that not everything in your life is meant to stay and leaving the version of yourself you have outgrown.

Most people wait until they have confidence to act on something. If you want to have confidence in something, you must be courageous first. Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s choosing to act while the fear is still there.

Confidence in something tends to come after action, not before.

Once you start the action, the confidence comes naturally.

I want you to ask yourself this question: Will I regret not trying? No matter which path you choose, there will always be ‘what ifs.’ The difference is that one path gives you experience, growth, and lessons. The other leaves you wondering.

However, if you stay in your comfort zone, you’re telling yourself you are okay with never growing or evolving.

Is that something you would regret, or would you have more regret taking a chance on yourself?

Years from now, you probably won’t remember every mistake you made. But you’ll remember the chances you never took.

Your next chapter isn’t waiting inside your comfort zone. It begins the moment you choose to turn the page.

Where in your life are you choosing comfort over growth?