If you’ve ever thought, “I’ll start when I feel ready,” you’re not alone.

Most women think readiness and confidence arrives like a green light. The truth is tougher. That moment rarely comes.
Because confidence doesn’t precede action…it follows it.

That loop you get stuck in – waiting to feel confident → doing nothing → feeling worse – is what psychologists call an avoidance loop. Your brain isn’t being difficult. It’s doing its job: keeping you safe, not successful.

The Science Bit (in Trace-speak):

When you think about doing something new, your brain’s threat system fires up. It used to protect you from being eaten by tigers. Now the “threat” is failing, being judged, or getting it wrong.

Your mind steps in with a very convincing line: “You’re not ready yet.”
It sounds sensible… but it’s fear in disguise.

How to break the loop:

1️⃣ Name the story.
“I’ll do it when I feel more confident.”
What it actually means is: “I don’t want to feel uncertain.”

2️⃣ Shrink the step.
Confidence grows from evidence, not theory.
Choose one tiny action that proves you can handle more than your mind thinks you can.

3️⃣ Reframe the feeling.
That flutter in your chest isn’t a warning. It’s your nervous system learning a new rhythm.

My Confidence Cycle

I teach a simple cycle that explains why we stay stuck and how we finally move. It shows how a thought triggers fear, which leads to avoidance, which strengthens doubt. The only thing that interrupts the cycle is action – even the smallest one. Action creates proof, and proof creates confidence. This is the foundation of the work I do with women who want change but freeze when it’s time to move.

This is why waiting keeps you stuck.
Movement – even tiny movement – is what breaks the cycle.

👉 Book your Discovery Call if you’re tired of waiting for confidence to “arrive.” We can start building it together.

Further reading about Confidence

1. Download my free Clarity to Confidence Reset to help you take that first step.
2. If you tend to overthink every next move, you’ll love this read: How Confidence Coaching Can Transform Your Life (Even If You Doubt Yourself)
3. Harvard Health: Why confidence comes from doing
4. Psychology Today: The paradox of confidence and fear

If you take one thing away:
Confidence isn’t the absence of fear.
It’s learning to move with it – one small, intentional step at a time.