Sue Green: Sometimes you just have to take the first step

Sue Green, director of Stafford-based Evergreen HR, has just written a book about her adventures around the world.

Here she talks about stepping outside your comfort zone, overcoming fear and being open to what life throws at you.

“At four o’clock in the morning, while preparing to set off on a trek through the Andes, I started questioning some of my life choices.

I was in Peru, about to begin the Lares Trek. Although I had agreed to the experience, I wasn’t entirely sure how I would cope with the altitude, steep climbs or days of walking ahead. Setting off at a genuinely offensive hour didn’t help.

At some point, though, you have to stop wondering whether you are ready and simply take the first step.

That trek became one of many experiences that changed how I thought about fear, confidence and making decisions when you don’t know what lies ahead. These are themes I explore in my first book, Free to Be – Discovering Freedom Beyond Fear, a travel memoir about my adventures around the world.

My travels have taken me from Cambodia and the Cook Islands to New Zealand and South America. Along the way, I found myself in unfamiliar places, meeting new people, adapting when plans changed and trying things well outside my usual routine.

Not every experience went perfectly, but some of the situations that felt most challenging at the time eventually became the stories I remembered most.

I think there is a lesson in that for business owners.

As the founder of Evergreen HR and HR Pulse HR Software, I know that making decisions is an unavoidable part of running a business. You can research your options, consider the risks and make the most informed decision possible, but there is rarely a guarantee that everything will go according to plan.

Taking a calculated risk doesn’t mean acting without thought. It means considering the information available, understanding what could go wrong and deciding whether you are prepared to move forward, even when the outcome is uncertain.

Travelling taught me that confidence doesn’t always come before action. Sometimes it develops because you do something that makes you nervous and discover that you can cope. The same applies when launching a business, introducing a new service or considering an unfamiliar opportunity.

It is also important to remain open to the unexpected. Some of my favourite travel memories came from experiences I hadn’t planned. In business, too, interesting opportunities can come from conversations or ideas we hadn’t originally considered.

Writing and publishing my first book has been another example of taking a step into unfamiliar territory. If I had waited until I felt completely confident, I might never have started.

For me, freedom isn’t about being fearless or having everything figured out. It’s about recognising that fear and uncertainty are part of life, but they don’t have to drive every decision.

Sometimes you just have to take the first step and see where it leads.”