A hopeful next step can be small enough that you do not have to pretend to feel fearless.

Courage is often described as a feeling you must generate before acting, which leaves anyone who is frightened waiting indefinitely. A step scaled to your actual state, one email, one inquiry, one conversation, can be taken while still afraid, and it moves you without requiring a personality transplant first. Confidence tends to arrive after the action rather than before it; small is not a lesser version of brave.

Choose the smallest possible next move on something you have been avoiding. Make it something you could do today while feeling exactly as you feel now.