How To Find the Courage to Go After What You Want, Even When Fear Holds You Back
- Jan 23
- 4 min read
Written by Zeljka Cacic-Escalera, Transformation Coach
Zeljka is a transformation coach and founder of Day One with Zeljka. She coaches ambitious women through personal and professional change using mindset work, self-leadership, and the body–mind connection. Her mission is to help you take your power back and create a life that finally feels like yours.
Have you ever felt deeply drawn to a new path, an idea, or a change, but stopped yourself because you weren’t sure it would work out? If so, you are not alone. Many people delay meaningful decisions not because they lack ability, but because they are waiting for certainty before they take action.
Why waiting for certainty keeps you stuck
Most of us are taught that we should feel confident and certain before we begin something new. In reality, certainty rarely comes first. It develops through experience.
Author and speaker Karin Kuschik captures this perfectly when she says that certainty isn’t a state, it’s a feeling that grows through experience. In other words, certainty is not something you think your way into. It is something you earn by doing.
This is why personal growth often feels uncomfortable. The moment you step outside your comfort zone, fear shows up. But fear does not mean you are on the wrong path. It often means you are on a meaningful one.
How do you build certainty when you feel afraid?
This is one of the most common questions people ask when facing change. The answer is simpler than it sounds. You build certainty by taking action before you feel ready.
Think about learning how to ride a bike. Confidence does not appear before you start. It develops as you ride, wobble, fall, and try again. Each attempt teaches your nervous system that you can handle it. Over time, fear loosens its grip.
The same principle applies to career changes, relationships, and personal growth.
My own experience with choosing courage over guarantees
My husband showed me a video from 2022 that I had sent him while I was visiting Germany. In that video, I shared that I had scheduled two separate introduction calls, one with Jay Shetty’s team and one with Tony Robbins’ team.
At the time, I felt a strong inner calling to become a certified coach and wanted to learn from the best, even though I wasn’t yet sure which path would be the right fit for me. I had no guarantee it would work out, and I was anxious about whether I could truly make a living as a coach. What I did know was that the inner voice guiding me forward kept getting louder.
In February last year, I founded my coaching business. I showed up every day, coached long before I had my first paying client, connected with like-minded professionals, and invested significant time, energy, and financial resources. There was no safety net. What carried me forward was vision and commitment.
What saying yes can change
Shonda Rhimes explores this idea powerfully in her book Year of Yes. She shares how saying yes to the things that scared her most transformed her confidence, career, and sense of self. By choosing courage over comfort, she stopped hiding and started fully showing up in her life.
Her story is a reminder that growth doesn’t come from waiting until fear disappears. It comes from acting while fear is present.
You can learn more about her work and the book’s core ideas through reputable summaries and interviews available online.
Why fear feels so convincing
Fear often disguises itself as logic. It tells us to wait until we are more prepared, more confident, or more certain. While reflection is important, fear becomes a problem when it prevents movement.
From a psychological perspective, fear is designed to protect us from perceived danger. However, growth requires teaching the nervous system that discomfort does not equal danger. Research on behavior change consistently shows that confidence follows action, not the other way around.
A simple action plan to build courage
If you feel called toward something but fear is holding you back, this approach can help:
1. Clarify the call: Write down what keeps coming back to you. What idea or desire refuses to let go?
2. Shrink the step: Ask yourself what the smallest possible next step is. Courage grows through manageable actions.
3. Act before certainty: Don’t wait to feel ready. Readiness is created through action.
4. Reflect without judgment: After taking a step, focus on what you learned rather than labeling the outcome as success or failure.
5. Repeat consistently: Courage is built through repetition. Each step strengthens self-trust.
You may also find it helpful to explore other BRAINZ articles on mindset, leadership, and personal growth to deepen this work.
Final thoughts
If something inside you is calling for change, listen. You don’t need certainty to begin. You gain certainty by beginning.
If you’re ready to explore what your next step could look like, I invite you to learn more about my coaching work and how I support women in navigating change with clarity and confidence.
Visit my website to take the next step.
Read more from Zeljka Cacic-Escalera
Zeljka Cacic-Escalera, Transformation Coach
Zeljka is a transformation coach and founder of Day One with Zeljka, with a professional background in international corporate and consulting environments. Years of working in high-performance, results-driven settings shaped her deep understanding of pressure, self-doubt, and identity loss behind outward success. Today, she bridges business acumen with mindset work, self-leadership, and the body-mind connection to support ambitious women through meaningful change. Her mission is to help you take your power back and create a life that finally feels like yours.
