Choose bold. Those words have been echoing through my being for a few days now; ever since my conscious choice to be bold, when I contacted the author of one of my favourite emotional literacy books.

I have felt totally at peace since the catch-up with the author, yet I have also felt something else. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was, although I could tell that there was probably some amazing learning that was going to happen once I figured it out.

It was a friend and colleague who, perhaps inadvertently, gave me the final puzzle piece. He sent me an email saying that my blog post about meeting with the author was an “…example of what happens when we are bold enough to show up in the world”. When I finished reading his email, the ah-ha moment hit me. The learning that was waiting to happen was about choosing bold. Specifically, it was about me choosing bold.

Hmmm. Choose Bold. What would it be like if I considered choosing bold across multiple areas of my life?

Boldness is not an emotion that has ever really come easily to me and I don’t actually know how I came to choose it recently. To be honest, I think that I have previously considered it to be quite a negative emotion. I placed in the same basket as “brazen”, judging it as being quite rude, with no respect for boundaries. Thinking about boldness as an emotion that could have an impact in multiple areas of my life was quite interesting, and I felt very curious about what I could possibly create.

I wasn’t really sure of where to go next with my exploration, so I decided to start by referring to my favourite emotional literacy book “The Unopened Gift: A Primer in Emotional Literacy” by Dan Newby and Lucy Nunez. It seemed fitting really. After all, it was this book that had ultimately led me to reflecting on boldness.

The Unopened Gift describes the story that sits behind boldness as “I will take the initiative to act even though I am unsure or scared”, stating that the action that boldness predisposes us to is “…initiating action in the face of uncertainty”. The book then goes on to say that boldness allows us to “move forward” even though “…we may be feeling doubtful or challenged”.

As I read through these words, I paused to let them sink in. This felt rather cool. Fear and doubt are quite familiar to me and, suddenly, it felt as though when these emotions decide to pay me a visit, boldness could also be there, helping me through. Wow.

I decided to imagine how boldness might feel in my body. I sat silently, visualising boldness flowing into my body. I suddenly wanted to stand, so that I could position myself in a forward moving stance. I could feel the fear, yet I could feel boldness taking action, regardless of the fear.

As I settled into the stance of boldness. I started to think about all of the areas in my life where boldness might be helpful for me right now (not the least being in the domain of my coaching business). So many opportunities came to mind and, for the first time in a long time, I felt ready to take on whatever challenges might appear along the way. Fear and doubt were still there, yet it felt as though they were there as friends, reminding me to take care on my journey, as boldness moved me forward. This really did feel awesome, and so I started to look at what declarations of boldness I could make that would help me in the various domains of my life at the moment. At home? At work? In my business?

It was then that it occurred to me. The perfect declaration for where I am in my life right now.

I will “choose bold” at least once per day for the next seven days.

I am not sure where this came from, and it feels so right. So, I am going to move forward with my declaration, providing updates along the way. Who knows what possibilities might arise as I go forward and “boldly show up in the world”?

As a leadership and life coach, these points are all points that I am able to help people to explore. If you feel that it would be useful to HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH ME, please feel free to view my services on the Leading and Being website. 

Featured Image Source: With thanks to Juanita Mulder from Pixabay