The Power of Just Doing It
In 1987, a struggling Nike came up with its infamous slogan ‘Just Do It’. These three words transformed the then-small company into a global multi-million dollar lifestyle brand. Despite the dubious origins of the phrase, the wildfire-like spread of its popularity shows just how powerful these words are, despite their simplicity — or rather because of their simplicity — even 30 years on.
The premise of the slogan ‘Just Do It’ is to counter the fears that hold us back from our goals, dreams, and ambitions. We are afraid of failing, embarrassing ourselves, or going backward. These fears hinder us from taking the steps towards what we really want. We end up settling for a life we aren’t satisfied with because of these fears.
We like to make excuses for ourselves. Whether it’s money or time, we tell ourselves ‘once I have this or that, I’ll finally be able to do what I really want’. Call it procrastination, call it underconfidence. Whatever it is that holds us back, it’s become a cycle that follows us; a pattern we’ve grown accustomed to; a familiarity and a comfort.
Because the truth is if we don’t try, we can’t fail. By not trying we create a safe space for ourselves where we have not yet suffered the disappointment of failure. Here, our dreams are still possibilities. We live in the in-between, where we can live comfortably.
This comfort zone is a dangerous place to be. We will never take risks or dare to pursue what we really want when we are cozy in our comfort. It seems like a gargantuan task to take the first step outside of our comfort zone. But it really is as simple as just doing it.
This is why the Nike slogan is so poignant. It’s a harsh truth we often ignore, that despite all of our excuses, all it takes is just doing what we really want to get what we really want.
Failure, of course, remains an ever-present possibility. It always will be. Once we accept that fact, we can face our fear of it. We must understand that it’s not failure we should be concerned with, but our resiliency in the face of it.
Our failure is what we allow it to be. If we let our failures to keep us from getting back up and trying again, the fault lies within ourselves. When we accept our failures and learn from them in the future, we foster personal growth.
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