It's Not Because We're Incapable

The Power of the Next Best Step

Most of us don’t get stuck because we’re incapable.

We get stuck because we care. We care about getting it right. We want to be taken seriously. We don’t want to feel judged or misunderstood. And so we freeze. We don’t move—not because we don’t have what it takes, but because we’re trying to avoid discomfort.

That might not be the story we tell ourselves… but if we’re being honest, that’s what’s really happening underneath the surface.

This is what's on my wall, it is what I have to remember each and every day.

I know it because I’ve lived it.

We wait for clarity. We wait to feel ready. We wait for the perfect conditions, the right time, the moment where everything finally makes sense.

But it doesn’t work like that.

The truth is, your future is created by what you do today—not tomorrow. That’s a quote I keep on the wall in my office, because I need to see it often. The only thing that creates momentum is movement. And usually, it’s not a big leap that changes everything. It’s just the next best step.

One small, meaningful move forward. That’s it.

If I had to guess, there’s probably something in your life right now that you’ve been thinking about doing for a while. And maybe it’s important to you. Maybe it matters. But you’re still not doing it.

And when you pause long enough to really ask yourself why, it’s not because you don’t know how. It’s because there’s some tension around how it might look, or how it might land. There’s some fear of not being accepted, or not getting it right.

This is completely normal.

Not long ago, I was ready to officially launch GRIT. I had the site built, the brand was dialed in. All I needed to do was make one video to tell people about it. Just a short message to get it out there. I already had a small YouTube audience—nothing huge, but it felt like a good place to start.

But I stalled.

I told myself things like, “The lighting isn’t great.” “I should fix up the room first.” "Maybe I’ll feel more ready next week.”

I wasn’t fixing anything—I was just avoiding the fear. I didn’t want to be judged. I didn’t want to feel like I didn’t measure up. So I waited.

Until I caught myself in it. I recognized that I was just circling the same fear over and over.

So I made a simple move: I told a few people, “I’m posting the video within the week.”

And just like that, there was a line in the sand. I followed through, got it done, and got it out. Was it perfect? No. But it was real. And it was enough. That one step broke the cycle and got everything else moving.

So if you’re feeling stuck right now, let me offer a few questions I use with myself:

What’s actually making you feel paralyzed?

What’s the last step you took toward the thing you say you care about?

What’s the fear underneath the hesitation?

And what’s one small step you could take today?

It could be a message, a calendar block, a 10-minute walk, or telling someone what you’re actually trying to do. It doesn’t need to be flashy. It just needs to happen.

Because the step doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be yours.

One last thing I’ll say—and this comes from a conversation with my wife years ago that I still think about regularly:

“Nobody’s thinking about you as much as you think they are. They’re too busy thinking about themselves.”

It’s so true. Most of the judgment we fear never really shows up. And even if it did… it’s nothing compared to the feeling of not doing the thing you know you’re called to do.

So ask yourself today—not next week, not when it feels easier:

What’s the next best step?

Say it out loud. Write it down. Then go do it.

We don’t build momentum through planning. We build it through movement. That’s how change happens. That’s how you grow.

That’s how you get your life back.