The Risk of Trying vs The Cost of Not Trying

Last week, I launched my first online course.

Not with absolute certainty.

Not with a huge team behind me.

And definitely not without moments of overthinking.

I launched it whilst quietly wondering:

Will anyone buy it?

Will people get it?

Will they think it’s good enough?

What if I’ve completely misjudged this?

And honestly? The response has been really positive.

But perhaps more importantly than the positive feedback itself has been the realisation that trying and learning feels far better than endlessly wondering.

Because I could have spent another six months tweaking things, overthinking wording, changing fonts, questioning pricing and waiting until I felt “ready”.

But at some point, you simply have to put the thing into the world.

What’s been interesting is that the feedback hasn’t just been positive - it’s also been helpful.

People have given suggestions.

Ideas.

Different perspectives.

Things I may tweak and improve over time.

And instead of feeling crushed by that, I found myself thinking:

“Well… that’s actually useful.”

I think age helps with this.

Not because you suddenly stop caring what people think altogether, but because you slowly realise that other people’s opinions are rarely as catastrophic as your imagination makes them out to be.

And perhaps more importantly, you begin to understand that staying stuck in hesitation often costs far more than trying and adjusting along the way.

There’s a certain freedom that comes with no longer needing everything to be perfect before you begin.

Because perfection is often just fear wearing a very convincing outfit.

And I think many women spend years quietly waiting:

Waiting until they feel confident enough.

Experienced enough.

Ready enough.

Certain enough.

Meanwhile, life keeps moving.

These days, I’d honestly rather try, learn, adapt and occasionally get things wrong than spend years wondering what might have happened if I’d backed myself a little sooner.

And lately, I’ve realised that the risk of trying is rarely as painful as we imagine.

But the cost of not trying?

That can stay with us for years.