Is fear keeping you from doing the things you want and becoming the person you really want to be? Do you chase what you want, or do you settle for what you get or what is available?
In her TEDx Talk titled, “The Secret to Getting Anything You Want in Life,” fitness personality and author Jennifer Cohen says being bold is the secret to getting whatever you want. She said, “Boldness is a stronger indicator of success than intelligence. Smart people think of all the negative things that will happen when things go wrong, but bold people think of all the good things that will happen when things go right.”
She said smart people fail because smart people are good at predicting all the possible negative outcomes and what might happen. Some people never take action and don’t get what they want because they let fear and self-doubt stop them; this is why being bold is the secret sauce that will put you on the path to success. Being bold is overcoming fear and self-doubt and doing things today that will make you successful tomorrow.
Jennifer says boldness is a skill that you can learn, practice, get better at, and even master. Just like you can train your body to get stronger, you can train your brain to get more bold.
The 10% Target
Jennifer says the 10% Target is identifying what you want, making 10 attempts at it, and becoming more comfortable with failing 90% of the time and finding success 10% of the time.
This mindset shift helps you find the resilience you need by helping you manage expectations in a more realistic way. Having a Growth Mindset does not mean you are perfect; it means you are committed to getting better. Getting better requires trying and failing, learning from your mistakes, and then trying again. Too often, we let the fear of failure get in the way of the learning process. The 10% Target helps you realize failure is an important part of learning and life.
So identify something you want to do or get better at, be okay will messing up, making mistakes, being told no or not year, and failure. Learn from everything, and then try again. Keep trying until you figure it out. Then keep trying some more until you master the skill you are trying to perfect.
4 Ways to Become More Bold
Challenge Your Inner Critic: We all have that voice in our heads that whispers doubts and anxieties. To be bold, you need to learn to challenge that voice. Spend some time each day focusing on your strengths and accomplishments, and watch how you talk to yourself. Be nice to yourself and speak to yourself in a way that builds you up, not tears you down.
Start Small and Celebrate Wins: Identify small areas where you can take calculated risks. This could be anything from speaking up in a meeting to trying a new food. The important thing is to take action and then celebrate your successes, no matter how small. This will build momentum and make you more likely to take on bigger challenges in the future.
Reframe Failure: Being bold doesn't mean never failing. It's inevitable that you'll encounter setbacks along the way. The key is to view these setbacks as learning experiences rather than failures. Ask yourself what you can learn from the experience and how you can use that knowledge to improve next time and embrace the 10% Target.
Ask, ‘What if?’ When you are questioning yourself or need to act boldly, “Ask yourself, what if everything works out for good?” Imagining what success looks like on the other side of the mountain can give you the push you need to do what you need to do, even if you have to do it afraid.
SOMETHING(s) TO THINK ABOUT
1 - When do you feel the most bold?
2 - In what areas do you need to feel more bold?
3 - What is something that keeps you from being bold or taking action?
4 - What can you do to overcome the fear, doubt, or mountain standing in your way?
For a printable PDF version of this post, click here: Being Bold | The Secret to Getting Whatever You Want
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