How To Be Brave*r
I’m attracted to bravery.
When I see bravery, I try to move closer to it. To understand it. To feel it. To absorb it.
I want to be braver. The kind of bravery where, for the right reason, you throw yourself into situations that are bigger than you. Where you’re a bit over your head. Where the chance you might fail is equal to or greater than the chance you might succeed. Where the only guarantee is that you will learn quickly. Or sink quickly.
This kind of bravery attracts me.
I saw it in my wife on the freezing winter day we met when she capsized her kayak at the worst possible time in a slalom race, swam without her boat through Nantahala Falls, and emerged from its icy grip with a smile on her face.
I saw it in the tenaciousness of my Cuba-to-Florida kayak crossing teammates despite little previous padding experience among most of them.
I saw it in my daughter this past week at the National Whitewater Slalom Training Camp in Charlotte, North Carolina as she bravely navigated the bullying forces of the sport.
And most recently, I felt it with a few friends who lived bravely every day this past year despite the darkness of life-ending diseases that as of today know no limits.
Bravery is not something you either have or you don’t have. It lives inside of all of us. The question is: do you choose to activate it?
Routine’s Dark Side
I am one of routine’s biggest advocates. Routines are effective ways to manage, maximize, and replenish our energy output. But routine without bravery equals conformity. It lulls us into a monotonous march towards a flavorless finish line. And that is a scarier proposition than not being brave.
Flex the bravery muscle to wake up from the sleepy days, weeks, months, or perhaps years gone by. Here’s how:
Ask yourself if you need to be braver.
Ask thoughtfully. Then listen. Listen carefully. The directive may be simple.
Disrupt the routine.
The Comfortable Operating System (COS) can’t compute bravery. Disrupt the COS. Evolve and stretch your daily routine through small challenges from within. Want to be braver around food? Prepare one vegetable-only meal per week.
Acknowledge an act of bravery.
When you see it, recognize the moment. Win-win for you and the brave person you witnessed.
Seek out a little adversity.
Embrace the discomfort or a little opposition in your life. A walk or run on a bitter cold morning. Offer a hand to someone when nobody else does. Take a little pleasure in headwinds.
The real worst case scenario.
There are lots of ways to look at the worst case. And more often than not, worst is not as bad as we believe it to be. In the words of Irish poet, John O’Donohue, “Opposition forces our abilities to awaken; it tests the temper and substance of who we are.”
Don’t let this muscle atrophy. Find it, train it, use it. Small Steps. Every Day.
As America’s first ever Olympic Gold Medalist in Whitewater Canoe Slalom, Joe promotes strategies and shares stories for living and performing at your best, doing the work that matters and engaging with purpose. His platforms include performance coaching and consulting, professional speaking, broadcasting and his weekly newsletter, “Sunday Morning Joe.”
