The other day, during a coaching session, one of my dear clients shared with me a motto that she had raised her sons with: “All it takes is 20 seconds of insane courage.”
As she said it, something clicked within me. I could see how that single phrase had guided her through so many tough moments in her life. It’s such a simple yet powerful idea, isn’t it? The notion that we don’t have to be fearless or fully prepared; sometimes, all we need is a brief moment of courage to take the leap, to do the thing. So often, we trick ourselves into believing that the fear will eventually go away or that a “perfect” moment will come when everything feels right, and we’ll finally be ready to act. We tell ourselves that when we feel more confident, when the timing is better, or when the fear goes away, that’s when we’ll take the plunge. But after over a decade of coaching thousands of people, I’ve learned that this just isn’t the case. The perfect moment rarely arrives, and the fear doesn’t simply fade away on its own. The truth is, if we wait for fear to vanish, we end up stuck, standing still, watching life pass us by while we wait for a moment that never comes.
What if the real key is not in waiting for fear to disappear, but in learning to embrace it? What if, instead of holding ourselves back, we took a deep breath and allowed ourselves to step into that fear—just for 20 seconds? Because sometimes, that’s all it takes: 20 seconds of insane courage to change everything.
Those 20 seconds could be the moment you say, “I want a divorce” or “I love you” for the first time. It could be signing up for that marathon you’ve always dreamed of running, or finally speaking up in a meeting when your heart is pounding in your chest. It could be making that phone call you’ve been dreading, emailing the editor of a magazine, walking into a room full of strangers at an event or telling your mum that you won’t be able to spend Christmas with her this year, even though you’re worried about disappointing her. These moments don’t require hours of bravery—they just need a flash of boldness, a willingness to be vulnerable, and a commitment to action, no matter how scared you feel.
What if 20 seconds of courage is all that’s standing between you and a meaningful change,
