Starting something new, whether it be something as simple as a hobby like knitting or collecting Pokemon cards or something more serious like the launch of a new business idea or even a website (wink wink, nudge nudge), it can be truly terrifying.
I have started many things in my life. Some of which were successful, some scared the shit out of me but ALL of the mentioned thought me life lessons I still use today. For example
- I started martial arts at the young age of 5.. yes 5, because who doesn’t want to be a Ninja when you’re young right? This journey led me to become a third degree black belt, multiple All Ireland champion, selected to represent Ireland at numerous international competitions and placing in the top 10 competitors in the world. It also thought me at a very young age about sacrifice, discipline, winning and more importantly thought me about failure.
- Moving forward a couple of years, a new journey in which I started was my time in the military. I always wanted to join the military at some point in my life due to having the majority of my immediate family including my own father serving. At this point in my life I was lost, didn’t know what I wanted to do, finished school, did a few not so meaningful courses to tie me over. Then one faithful march evening, I seen that the Defence Forces were recruiting and so began the long journey of being selected to start recruit training. Recruit training aims to turn civilians into fully functioning soldiers. Many times throughout this process you ask yourself “why… why the hell did I volunteer for this?” My time in the military much like my time in martial arts thought me once again about success, self motivation, discipline and never giving up, even when it all seems lost.
- Another journey in which I think is important to share is the journey of living my life after losing a loved one. Throughout my life I have lost many people I hold dear to me, but the journey of starting over after losing my own father is properly the hardest journey I have taken to date.
Starting a fresh journey without a pivotal life figure not around seems almost impossible and for a long time I was sure it was just that… impossible. Alas, as time went on, as life continued without me, I had a choice. My choices were either continue this journey of self destruction or use what I’ve learned already in my life about resilience, motivation and psychology to not only get myself back on track but to also understand why I felt what I felt, understand the emotions to better identify them in the future, because unfortunately, the journey of loss is one we must all face…..alone. - The final “something new” which id like to discuss is my time in education. When my time in the military had naturally ran its course, I began to ask myself “is this what you want to do forever?” I found myself losing the flame inside me. So I began to toy with the idea of returning to education. I never went to college and always wondered would I be able for it? would I enjoy it?. III be straight with you, I hated school, so the idea of leaving a good stable job in pursuit of a “Maybe” terrified me. I knew if I was thinking of this, that it was worth looking at. After much deliberation and research I decided “Fuck it” and placed all my eggs into one basket, left my full time government job and went back to education. Skip forward 4.5 years later im writing this after not only successfully completing an Honours Degree in Psychology but also obtaining a Masters in Organisational Psychology and Human Behaviour.
I think the point of this post is to show you that life is full of “Starting something new”. Should it terrify you? Fuck yes! Is it normal? Of course it is your human, new things are meant to scare you so relax, take a breath and remember…. WHATS THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN!
If you succeed, Great!
If you fail, Great!
Life is full of success stories and failure stories and sometimes its the failures in which we learn most from.
Take the chance, I believe in you. Believe in YOURSELF!
Tactical Psychology 