The Road to Greatness—Relying on Bravery
If I were braver, I would…love freely (I love you darling), stand up for myself, speak out more, ask for what I know I deserve, have the challenging conversations, learn to say no more.
What would you do if you were even braver? When we talk about bravery it can mean many things, but what really requires the most bravery from ourselves? Simply put, it’s being us; being brave enough to fully show up and step in the fullest version of ourselves, even if it means getting it wrong at times. In a nutshell, the quality of our lives is determined by how brave we are since it impacts how bold, resilient, authentic, and vulnerable we are, and as a result our ability to strive for more, to do something and not wait. In other words, to strive for greatness, to achieve success, we first need to be brave.
To me, you need to be brave to strive for greatness as you can only strive for greatness when you surpass yourself and that means being brave enough to be you, to be the person you are meant to be.
I’ve grown up striving for success and I say this with the outmost humility. I left home at the age of 10 to pursue dance professionally and from then, maybe even before, it’s always been about working hard and being the best. Every audition, casting, performance, and job I did I had to be better as I was going up against amazing dancers who were also fighting to be chosen and show their talent. I had to stand out, which meant I had to be brave enough to show up as my full self and continually work even harder each day—what gets us here won’t get us there, where greatness lives. Rather, it’s constant efforts and striving for excellence by being prepared and having an impact on those we meet that brings us closer to greatness. It was Robin Sharma who said, to have the results only 5% of the population have, you must be willing to do what 95% of people just don’t do; when we talk about greatness we often forget to focus on the sacrifices or rather the choices that must be made to get to a certain level of self-growth, contribution, and excellence in all we do. Think of the discipline it takes to reach a goal. Encouragingly enough, it’s the small actions we take repeatedly that have the biggest impact, which means that anyone really can work towards greatness.
Are you ever scared to be confident and say you’re great at something? To reach for greatness requires us to be living outside of our comfort zone, which is not always an easy thing to do. When we are outside our comfort zone, we feel vulnerable, we are outside our perceived comfort; nonetheless, we agree to put up with the discomfort or nervousness to grow as a person—to be more or rather to be fully ourselves.
It’s important to be content with what we have, gratitude is the first step to making our own happiness, but we also need to realize when we aren’t and to make a change. That change can take the form of striving for greatness as conscious decisions are made to change the dynamics of a situation, usually for something better. Greatness is the power to be our own agent of change; it’s setting ourselves up for success by ensuring we have the skills, abilities, and desire to do what we want. More so, that means to stop waiting; greatness was never achieved by waiting around, it necessitates the bravery to go into action before we even feel ready to do so, it’s choosing to feel ready enough. It’s not waiting for everything to feel aligned before doing things like joining the 5:00 a.m. club and taking the commitment to exercise each day.
There are so many factors that contribute to shaping our views and the status quo. Greatness is usually perceived as existing outside of the status quo—it’s a reach away from sameness. Striving for greatness means we inherently let go of people-pleasing, perfectionism comparing ourselves and seeking approval outside of ourselves. No one’s perfect so we all struggle with these things but the ability to stop waiting and just take action is within us; there is no need to wait for something to be perfect, which brings us back to being braver. When we are brave, we chose to feel ready enough to just do and be.
I see greatness as being a profound self-reflection. It takes a great deal of confidence to be able to say what we want and aim to get it. This could mean adopting healthy habits or pursuing a certain career path, which at the moment might feel impossible or like a distant dream, but you’re still taking steps to make It happen. Beyond my dance career where I pursued excellence through technique, being a leader for other dancers and inspiring through my own passion, I also pushed outside my comfort zone when I opened my own business last year. Nonetheless, I did it. I undertook a challenge in the pursuit of greatness; I care and felt I needed to make a different kind of contribution to the fitness world. I gave a lot of myself creatively and I still do today but I also wanted to build a mentality. In a time where the world isn’t always kind, I wanted to bring sunshine to help those who want to blossom.
If you strive for greatness you want to push yourself, which translates in other aspects of life, like fitness. I targeted the topic of striving for greatness to discern what that meant in everyday life. Is it working towards our goals or being successful? This reflection has led me to think that ironically enough, greatness is the ability to fail. That’s right, if we fail it means we tried and that in itself is a success, one that must be surpassed by the drive to get back up and try again.
When striving for greatness, remember to be brave by being more of who you already are! You’ll feel fulfilled and will have attained that feeling of greatness. At the end of the day, it’s doing difficult things that make us heroic—they introduce us to OUR greatness.
Ready to be brave?
I remember the first time I brave my self and had the courage to run a 13miles alone in a race. It gave me so much confidence and freedom that I can actually do it. Bravery comes in many forms and I admire you for starting early at the age of 10.
Sometimes you don’t have a choice to be brave – it kind of sneaks up on you and you either step forward or you don’t! Pushing yourself is often so important!
Very inspirational! I have to remind myself regularly to be brave and bold, even in the little actions. Definitely not easy. Great reminder that we all deserve the great things.
This is simply amazing! My cousin said to me once that I’m brave and I didn’t think I was. I just needed to make a change and did it . Your motivating words really encouraged me. I’ve got to keep pushing because I must be great and impact someone’s life. Thanks for the reminder
I’m kind of a risk taker and for me to be able to that- I must be brave. However, it’s not just about facing fears but being consistent, learning from mistakes, and keep on fighting forward!
Very interesting and inspiring. Being brave takes a certain amount of incredible will power
This is so timely for me. I find myself learning to NO more and it fees soooo good.
Being brave to step out of my comfort zone is a very hard task for me. But you are totally right and very inspiring. Thanks you very much!
I love this article! Thank you for sharing your story with us. For myself I strive as a Christian to love the people in my life and to strengthen their faith. When I see a loved one walking with the Lord I feel the greatest accomplishment because I know the outcome is eternal.
I loved the quote saying that to be part of the 5% you have to be willing to do what 95% doesn’t. That’s powerful. What I liked even more is the approach that it’s a choice, rather than a sacrifice.
That’s takes away a whole lot of self-pity!
I think everyday we should do something that challenge us. It’s a great way to grow and learn!
Pushing yourself (with healthy boundaries of course) is essential to make necessary shifts within our lives! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Somedays it is hard to be brave but I try! I just ready Misty Copeland’s autobiography and she seems like someone has who lived bravely as well.
Some days it is hard but we make it through. Keep it up!
So important also to role model to our children that bravery is so important, taking risks, standing up for ourselves, and stepping outside our comfort zone. Being brave can be scary but also so rewarding ❤️
You are absolutely right on point!
Yes, we must be brave to step out of our comfort zones. Remaining steadfast and consistent helps to walk it out. Thank you for sharing. ☺️
Pastor Natalie (ExamineThisMoment)
Letstakeamoment.com
So inspirational! I agree that we shouldn’t wait around for everything to be perfectly aligned. We need to step outside our comfort zones in order to find out what we are capable of. Forget your fears.
I love this! Thank you for sharing.
I really like your point of view on this topic. Bravery is freaking scary but it’s essential to grow as a human being. And it’s great to know that we’re not alone struggling with this.
It is very scary but we are all together in the struggle.
Inspiring post. Bravery can take many forms. For artists, one form of bravery is declaring publicly that one is an artist and putting the work out in the world, time and time again.
Absolutely! As a former artist I can completely relate.
Love this post! Very thought-provoking. Staying in a comfort zone will only hold you back in all areas of life. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it!
awesome tips
Glad you find the tips helpful!
This really hit me: “To reach for greatness requires us to be living outside of our comfort zone, which is not always an easy thing to do.”
I get stuck in my comfort zone all too often and need a kick in the pants to get me moving.
Thanks for this kick!
Takes such will power!l not easy to do but really helpful tips thank you!
I’m not enough brave but I’m trying haha. So some situations I can’t do it and some, it would be easy for me.
Love all the great tips!
I agree. It is both the tough decisions and the failure that help us grow. The courage to be ourselves!
Yes! I dare to be brave, dare to take a risk, dare to make mistakes, only then will I be able to say I lived a full life!
I loved it. I find being brave very difficult but I will try to implement these tips in your post. Thank you very much
It’s amazing that you left home so early to pursue dance. I think you should add some photos of you dancing to your post. It reads a lot like a journal entry, and I’d love to see you in the act while I’m reading about your passion and greatness.
I should’ve brought my boots because it’s getting deep in here! So much good stuff here, but I was particularly grabbed by this: ….It’s the small actions we take repeatedly that have the biggest impact…” We often feel like we need to take big, bold swings and the thought of it can be paralyzing. But so much of it is in the small things. Keep up the good work!
This blog was very inspirational. I believe that someone stride for greatness shows differently when one comes from humble beginnings.
So glad you enjoyed it!