A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort.

What stops most people is rarely ability. It is the small terror of the first attempt, the one that has to be bad before anything can be good. Held off long enough, that first effort never happens, and the ability inside a person stays a private thing nobody else ever meets. Timidity feels like caution, which is why it is so easy to obey.

Pick the thing you have quietly wanted to try and do the smallest version of it this week, somewhere the stakes are low. You are not deciding whether you are good at it yet. You are only making the first attempt exist.