The Courage to do Big Things as a Young Professional

One of the official definitions of the word is to be the first to use or apply a new method, area of knowledge, or activity. When I hear the word ‘pioneer’, a picture of someone who is courageous and fearless comes to mind.
I haven’t always been someone who loves to stray far from her comfort zone. Yet, I look back at my career of over eight years and I marvel at how I was able to make some big moves – moves that stretched me and took me into new territories professionally. Many times when people refer to me as being courageous, I am quick to remind them that I am simply a woman who is curious enough to ask “why not” and take a baby step despite having uncontrollable palpitations. There is a quote about courage that I love so much and I heard it first from the movie, Princess Diaries. If you ever watched that movie, you already know the quote – “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”

My question to you is this – what is more important to you than the fear you feel.
As a young professional, I have had to deal with the fear of being broke. It was quite paralysing. You would think that because I wanted to make a lot of money, I would have charged a good amount for my services. Nope! That’s not what happened. That fear also tainted my professional self-worth. “Don’t let me charge too much. I don’t want to scare them away.” I remember many sleepless nights spent working on briefs that only brought in little, not because I couldn’t have earned more but because I simply did not have the courage to ask.

There are many, many examples – not pitching for opportunities because I kept wondering if I was good enough, not asking for a pay rise despite the fact that I brought great value to the organization, not promoting my work and achievements because I thought it was better for my work to speak for itself. As I started to review my capacity and potential with the status quo I experienced, I knew I could not do great things if I continued to allow fear to limit me.

So what did I do?
I became intentional about pushing past the fear and doing the things I was afraid to do. It was daunting at first but those baby steps led me into an ocean of global opportunities. Fearfully (and also cluelessly), I pitched for my first project with a top tier bank and I won that pitch! Fearfully, I reached out to a senior executive and asked to volunteer to handle communications for a renowned conference. That particular step changed things significantly for me in my professional journey. The list is endless but one thing remains constant, when I feel the fear, I ask myself, “What is the worst that will happen if I choose to go for it?”

Usually, the worst is receiving a ‘no’ or being ignored. But I have realized that getting a rejection is not the end of the world. The flip side holds much more potential for me and for that reason, I step out of my comfort zone and do the thing I feel scared to do.
What is that thing that you’ve been mulling over for months? A promotion. A job opportunity with a global organization? Starting your business? Positioning yourself as a thought leader in your industry? Becoming a contributor or writer? It’s time to stop over-analysing and take that baby step that will get you to your desired end goal. It’s time to go for it!
Remember, doing big things requires courage and courage does not mean you will not feel fear. It means you will do what you need to do in spite of and despite the existence of that fear. So just in case you missed the point of this piece, go for it!

About Adedoyin Jaiyesimi

Adedoyin Jaiyesimi is the Chief Communications Consultant at The Comms Avenue, a capacity building and knowledge exchange platform for leading and innovative communications professionals across the world. The Comms Avenue offers high-level knowledge sharing meetings and training programs for communications professionals and corporate organizations.
She has vast experience consulting for international organizations and top corporate executives and specializes in providing strategic communications consulting for development, philanthropic and corporate organizations, helping them to develop and implement a robust communications strategy.
Adedoyin has successfully executed projects for the W Community, Women in Business, Management and Public Service (WIMBIZ), Leading Ladies Africa, Heritage Bank, African Philanthropy Forum amongst others. She has been profiled on She Leads Africa, Leadership Newspaper and Lionesses of Africa. She was also featured as one of The Spark’s Visionary Women in 2019.
Instagram – @adedoyinjaiyesimi
Email – [email protected]