In 2020, we cannot be afraid of failure.

Take risks, even when the outcomes are uncertain.

As I’ve been crossing off items on the year-end to-do list and spending time with family over the holidays, I’ve been taking time to step back and reflect on the whirlwind of the past year. There’s one big takeaway that I want to share with as many of you as possible heading into 2020:

We should always, always take risks to accomplish our big goals, even if failure is a possibility.

There are so many problems to be fixed, so many complex challenges that we must rise to. We must be unafraid to meet them; unafraid to brandish the fights that others won’t take on. Because we’ll never see the progress we want without bravery.

This year, I raised my hand, took a leap of faith, and ran for president. I gave it my all. I traveled the country, spoke to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire and Michigan and Ohio, debated in front of the whole country, ran TV ads, the whole nine yards.

As you may already know, it didn’t work out. And guess what?

That’s okay, because I am proud of the campaign I ran — one that shed a light on issues that no one else was talking about, and raised up the voices of those without my platform. Of course I wanted to win, but being able to lift up those voices was a deep honor.

And just as importantly, the lessons that I took from that experience gave a new depth and perspective to the work that I do as a public servant. I learned that there’s far more that binds us than divides us. The challenges we face across the country are universal. We care about providing for our children and families; we need more affordable, accessible health care; we need clean air and water; we deserve good paying jobs in our communities.

I came out of that experience with more conviction than ever to do the best job I possibly could as Senator for New York. All because I felt free of the fear of things not working out.

I’ve thought about this concept — the fear of failure — over and over again in my experience working to bring more women into leadership roles in politics and elsewhere. Too often, I hear from women about how afraid they are to fail, not so much for themselves, but for their families, their children, their future constituents. And I try to remind them of how much we need them to take those risks so that they may fight for the very people they are so afraid of letting down. We need their voices, we need their advocacy, and we need their leadership.

So this is my call to action as we enter this new decade: Let’s encourage the women in our lives — our friends, loved ones, relatives — to be fearless, to take risks, to speak out, to take that leap of faith, even when the outcomes are uncertain.

That could mean asking for that raise or promotion. That could mean enrolling in school for that college degree or higher education degree. Maybe that even means running for office. We have to show our daughters, and our sons, that girls and women are capable of doing anything they set their minds to.

In 2020, we have a lot of work to do and much will be demanded of each of us in our advocacy, our service, and our efforts. And to do it, we need fearless people — fearless women — ready to take on these fights. We have to get President Trump out of office. We have to flip the Senate. And we need to elect more women up and down the ballot.

We need to keep being brave and set that example for all of the women standing behind us. Here’s to trying and giving it our all. Happy New Year.