Sometimes the hardest part of doing something brave is the first few seconds.

Starting the conversation. Saying what you really mean. Putting yourself out there.

It’s so much easier to do a lap of the kitchen and grab a snack, create new folders in your inbox, or talk yourself out of it completely.

But here’s a little mindset shift that’s helped me more times than I can count:

You don’t need to be brave all day.
You don’t need to be confident forever.
You just need 20 seconds of courage.

That’s it.

Twenty seconds to start the thing that feels hard.
Twenty seconds to walk into the room. To open your mouth. To hit send.
And then? The moment passes. You’re in it. You’ve done it. You’re okay.

One of my favourite memories of this was when I had a difficult email to send years ago. I’d drafted it. Re-read it 20 times. Stalled. Paced. Worried.

Then I called my Dad.

While he gave me the world’s most patient pep talk, I realised what I actually needed wasn’t more advice…. it was 20 seconds of courage. So I walked over to my laptop and hit send.

Dad was still mid-speech when I said, “I did it.”
“Did what?”
“I sent the email.”
“Oh! Okay! I was just about to tell you to go and open your laptop!” 😄

That moment has stayed with me. And it’s helped me through far scarier things than just emails.

So, if you’ve been holding back on something lately—saying what needs to be said, starting the thing you’ve been dreaming about, asking for help, or even trying something totally new—this is your gentle nudge:

Take the 20 seconds. You’ve got this.