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‍You already know what to do. So why aren't you doing it?

I'm always thinking about the patterns I notice around fear and uncertainty. The other day, in the shower (where I have some of my best ideas), I started thinking about the moments in my life where I actually moved forward through that fear and uncertainty. Not the moments where I talked about it. Not the moments where I planned. The moments where I actually did the thing.

And I realized something. It was never because I suddenly felt ready. Something else had shifted.

After collecting tens of thousands of fears and watching people try to move through uncertainty, I've noticed a pattern. There are four things that get us to move. Sometimes you only need one. Other times, a few have to stack together. But when people finally act, it's usually because one of these became strong enough.

Those four are: Values and Beliefs. Cost. Self-Trust. And Leverage.

Values and Beliefs

This is when not acting would make you feel like a fraud.

Here's what I mean. I'm the "fear guy." That's my thing. I talk about pushing through fear, being courageous, leaning into discomfort. So I have to actually live it. There are things I've pushed through simply because I couldn't be the person on stage talking about courage while avoiding hard things in my own life.

When you believe something about yourself, it creates pressure to act. You move because staying still would make you a hypocrite to yourself.

Cost

This is when you can finally feel what happens if you don't act.

I wanted to make YouTube videos for years. I'd start, then stop. Judgment would creep in. What will people think? But then I started imagining my future if I never put out the content. I could see myself looking back with regret, knowing I had something to share and never shared it.

That future became real enough that it hurt. And when the cost of not acting felt heavier than the discomfort of acting, I finally moved.

Here's the thing. When consequences feel far away, you wait. When they feel real, you move.

Self-Trust

This isn't confidence. It's your belief that you'll figure it out.

Susan Jeffers wrote about this in "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway." The idea is simple: you can handle whatever comes. Not because you know exactly what to do, but because you've figured things out before.

Think about it. You've been through hard situations and made it out. Why wouldn't you make it out again?

Self-trust is earned through reps. Every time you face something uncertain and find your way through, you build evidence. That evidence becomes the foundation for the next risk.

Leverage

Leverage is the net that catches you if it doesn't work out.

Do you have money saved? Do you have skills nobody can take away? Do you have a reputation that would help you land somewhere new? Do you have support from family? Do you have options?

When I left corporate America, I had saved enough money to survive for a while if things didn't go my way. That was my leverage. I wasn't fearless. I just knew I wouldn't be destroyed if it failed.

Think about Mark Zuckerberg and Meta. Because of how he structured his voting shares, the board can't fire him. That leverage allows him to make bold, long-term bets that other CEOs might avoid. He can take risks because the downside is survivable.

Leverage doesn't make you weak. It makes action possible.

You Don't Need All Four

Here's the part most people miss. It's not about having all four. Sometimes one is strong enough to carry you. Other times, you need a few stacked together.

But when you're stuck, you don't need more motivation. You need to figure out which one is missing.

So think about something you've been avoiding:

• Is it Values and Beliefs? Do you need to connect this action to who you are?
• Is it Cost? Do you need to feel what happens if nothing changes?
• Is it Self-Trust? Do you need to remind yourself you've figured things out before?
• Or is it Leverage? Do you need to build a net before you jump?

Once you can name it, you can work on it. And that's when you finally get to take the next step forward.

I'm curious: which of these four is usually the missing piece for you? Drop it in the comments.