Three Brave Things to do Today

One of the bravest things you'll ever do, is owning your story (Brene Brown), because come to think of it, does it really matter at this point what has happened to you, how many times you've failed, not reaching your finish line and surviving your dumb decisions. Why cry over spilled milk. The bottom line is, you survived. You are here. Shouldn't the focus be what you are going to fill into your storybook now that you are wiser, stronger, and smarter. Based on this fact alone, shouldn't the second half of your life, be better than the first?

At this point in your life, when sh*t happens, what you need to do is just roll your eyes or give life a wink and simply deal with it head on like a badass warrior who now have experience. That's your psychology talking baby girl/boy! It's your psychology that does the heavy lifting. Let it do the talking.

2. Getting out of one's comfort zone is a difficult thing for many but you might be surprised to know that what people call comfort zones are not really comfortable, It's just familiar, yet they remain in it. When I just moved to Long Island in 2014, I was this ambitious black woman who I know people would try to put in the usual stereotypical box. I switched that around with some outside the box thinking and decided to visit my Congressman's office. I researched the location and found that it wasn't too far off from where I reside at the time. I drove there one morning and walked in like I had an appointment. I didn't. I asked to speak to the congressman, he wasn't available but I ended up speaking to his Chief of Staff. He and another man joined me in the meeting room and I told them my story that I recently moved from Manhattan and is finding it difficult to meet business people like myself.

To my surprise he handed me a list of people I can call. These were people with clout and I called everyone of them and met each of them. This actually reminds me of pulling up a chair at the big boys table, although at the time, I did not realize the magnitude of what I had done.

3. At this point, I have spoken in twenty-five plus high schools in New York, New Jersey and DC. I started doing this around my 3rd or 4th year after emigrating to the US. I also spoke to female inmates at Rikers Island. It was something I have always wanted to do and didn't know how to go about it. One day however I decided to go to the Department of Education in Manhattan to inquire how I can get this going. The staff member I spoke with told me that it's usually up to the schools to invite me to speak but he gave me a really thick book of all the high schools in  the five boroughs of NYC and I started calling daily to call for speaking opportunities.

Many said no thank you, but a few said sure. I believe the schools that agreed to invite me did so because I spoke for free. I wasn't charging. But a couple of schools paid me. The opportunity to speak at Rikers Island was much harder to land. It was a whole year of calling and emailing that they finally gave me an invitation.

As a consequence of those daring and audacious moves I've made over the years, it certainly added some flavor to my story.  In most cases, those experiences allowed me to escape obscurity, be an outside the box thinker, and enhanced my creative endeavors. This is just three experiences I decided to share, but imagine brave and daring for most of my adults life, there's a whole lot more stories in my vault.

Start doing brave things my friend, so you can capture the 'who' behind your better self.