“If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.” – Toni Morrison

Woah.

You could also say, Just Do It.

They (Toni and the sports shoe company) are right, but writing a book and just doing it are not quite the beginning. There is the act of bravery first.

Many are brazen but many aren’t. This is for you (and me).

Take the risk. Be brave. Bear your soul. That’s what it takes to make anything from your imagination. The good news is that the soul is like your liver, it grows back. You are never without.

Show Us

Make the chocolate cookies, the artful jam, the salad dressing, the wooden table, some music, the book…

No one else will do it like you, even if there’s many versions of what you’re offering. There are a million coffee shops in Vancouver and they are all busy because customers have favourites. Be a favourite.

To do that it might mean showing your innermost self. In other words, stand naked before everyone.

And hope that everyone will see because why else would you get naked in front of a crowd? Show us your passion and then you will have something special to market.

Get industrial bravery

You could get brave from the Internet. It’s free –  Courage Doesn’t Always Roar; Inhale Confidence, Exhale Doubt; and so on.  There’s some good information, but keeping up with the memes is a distraction. You have to know when to quit, like research.

You can also pay. There are experts who will help you overcome the reason you’re afraid. They are called coaches and counsellors.

But you have to know that no matter how many memes and counsellors you have, the feeling is all yours. Being brave means feeling scared.

Naked or Dead?

It’s okay to be scared.

The flop of the movie, Ishtar, is a good example. Participants, right down to the key grip, must have been scared for their future – if not during production, certainly afterwards. In spite of the money, talent, and knowledge involved in the film, the end result was bad. The makers stood naked for everyone who cared to see – and there were a lot. But they survived. They worked at their craft again. Except the director, Elaine May, who never directed another film (you need to ask why?). But like the others, she was alive.

Naked and alive is as a pretty basic benchmark. But then maybe that’s the lesson – you won’t die being this kind of brave.