5 Ways To Make A Brave Decision

Did you know? “The top fear Americans reported in the 2015 survey is the corruption of government officials. In fact, 58 percent of respondents reported being “afraid” or “very afraid” of a corrupt government.” ( v i a )

In order to validate the following I have to toot my own horn a little.   I’ve appeared to be brave a couple different times in my life.   I feel like I’ve mastered faking bravery very well in order to get through specific scenarios.  (Don’t give me a strep throat test or you’ll see the opposite of bravery in a matter of seconds.)

But Bravery can also be quitting or changing your career.  Breaking up with your boyfriend or dating a girl.  Being promiscuous.  Deciding to divorce.  Having a baby. Getting through health struggles or confessing to health struggles.  Sharing honest opinions, admitting you fucked up, crying.  Saying sorry. Meeting a new group of friends, networking, asking for a raise.

All of these choices, you should feel brave enough to do.

5 Ways To Make A Brave Decision:

1.  RESEARCH

   Whatever it is that you’re trying to be brave about, learn about it.  Learn as much as you can. Ask questions that you’re worried about, don’t be afraid to say what’s making you scared.  Own the fears & ask about them.  Be sure to ask the internet, or sources that are going to give you their honest facts or opinions.  Avoid gossip like the plague.  Search for honesty & facts.  Don’t ask to hear an answer you’re looking for, ask to hear honesty.  One of my most recent brave moves was when I moved to Dubai, to everyone else it looked like too fast of a decision based on whole lot of nothing.  But I asked the internet any scary question I had, I skype interviewed people in Dubai that were doing what I wanted to do, I looked at my current situation, and I made a long, well thought out pro & con list.  I knew as much as I could have possibly known before leaving.

2. SHUT UP

   Actions speak louder than words.  One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone talks about doing something 1 million times, every single day, and never puts action to their words.  Don’t be that person.  Do all your research so that by the time you start talking about it, IF you ever start talking about it, you’re brave enough to trust what you’re saying.  You already have a plan. No one can talk the bravery out of you, because the opinions of others can’t sway the facts you’ve already spent time researching.   Of course, they’ll be a couple close people that you might need to talk to before making your brave move in order to get your research in order, but keep quiet besides that.   There’s been a lot of “brave” decisions I’ve had in my mind that no one has ever heard about, because I did my research & determined I needed to shut them down.  Be smart and make your very own decisions before blabbering.

3. BE SELFISH

   Sounds easy but it isn’t.  Everyone has a fucking opinion & it’s annoying.  At the end of the day, your main concern should always be yourself and your own happiness.  Here’s why – the people in your life are not going to get the best version of you if you’re not happy.  So do what you need to do for yourself to be happy, I promise it’ll only benefit everyone in the long run.  If that means breaking up with a boyfriend, he would also never have the relationship he deserves w you if you weren’t confident in it, in the long run it’s beneficial for both of you to do what you need to do for yourself to be happy. When your main concern is making yourself happy & you’re able to shut out all other distractions, you’ll be braver than you think you can be.  And eventually, everyone will get it.

4. CONFIDENCE

   This one & the next are the 2 most important ways to be brave.  BE CONFIDENT.  Trust yourself! Trust yourself! Trust yourself!  You have no idea how many other people you’ll inspire by believing in yourself.   And remember, sometimes being brave is admitting when you’re wrong, that’s ok!  That’s one of the bravest things to do in the entire world because it makes you completely vulnerable < almost everyone struggles at this.  Sometimes you fuck up, make a bad decision, or trust the wrong people – that’s ok too.  Pick it up and move on with another brave decision.  Maybe you never want to have kids, maybe you want to come out of the closet, maybe you want to quit your corporate job & pursue acting – trust yourself!  Be confident through the whole process, beginning middle and end.

5. BELIEVE

   Alright, I’m going a lil spiritual here, but what the hell – If you don’t have some kind of spirit then it’s going to be hard to have bravery.  I think we all have a path planned for us,  it’s a matter of trusting the path and believing in it.  That’s why I try hard to trust my gut & not let too many other opinions change it.  Even after a failed decision, I rarely regret it.  At the end of the day, any decision you make, whether it turns out or not was likely meant to happen.  Maybe there was a lesson to be learned, maybe it turned into the best decision ever, maybe you had to go through something to get out the other side a different person.  Whatever was meant to happen, will happen, so you have to keep going on your path & believe in all of it.