A couple of weeks ago, I had to encourage a close friend of mine to do something he was really reluctant to do, which was see a doctor.

It all began when he started complaining about a pain in his side. At first, I didn’t say much, because I honestly thought it would go away on its own. But the pain kept coming back, and he didn’t really do anything about it. After a few days, I realised I had to step in.

I told him straight up that this wasn’t something to joke about. I explained that going to the doctor didn’t automatically mean bad news. It was just a way to make sure everything was okay. And even if there was something wrong, the sooner he found out, the better. I honestly said that if he ignored it and it turned out to be serious, he’d probably regret not acting earlier.

He really didn’t want to listen. He kept saying it would pass and that he didn’t want to waste time on doctors. At one point, he started freaking out and said it was none of my business. I didn’t get offended, because I knew he didn’t mean to be rude. He was just nervous. So I kept bringing it up over the next few days, trying to talk some sense into him. What I thought would be a quick conversation turned out to be several days of convincing.

In the end, I was pretty firm. I told him that if he wasn’t willing to do anything about it, then he should stop complaining to me about the pain. That finally did it. He wasn’t happy about it, but he booked an appointment and went to see a doctor.

Last year I managed to persuade my best friend to quit a job that she hated and start her own business. I knew that she wanted to do so ‘cause whenever we met, she told me that she was dreaming of setting up her own company. But, obviously, she did nothing to make her dream come true.

Once I told her that there's one good quote by Henry Ford ‘If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.' I told her that there was no better moment than the present because while she was still in doubt, someone else was acting, and that the more she postponed, the more effort she would have to put in order to penetrate the market in the future.

To be honest, I thought she would be happy to have someone who would encourage her to take the first step. However, her gut reaction was to say that it's not my concern. I knew she didn't mean it. I realised she couldn't manage her reaction just because she was really afraid to change her life. So I decided not to put pressure on her, but go back to talking about it later.

I brought this up during our next talk, and she didn't react so emotionally. She just told me about all the fears she had. She was afraid that running her own business would mean stepping out of her comfort zone and having no income for an indefinite period of time. And I should mention that she had a high-paying job at that moment. So she had something to lose. But her biggest fear was the fear of failure. Everyone knows that starting a business is a big risk — sometimes it will work, and sometimes it will not.

I knew that her fears weren't unfounded, yet I told her that it is better to regret something you did than something you didn't do. Finally, she decided it was worth a try. And… she's still grateful to me, and every time we see each other, she says that if I hadn't encouraged her to take the first step, she wouldn't have done it herself.