- Do You Wish You Were Bolder? ➞
- Characteristics of Bold People ➞
- Actions that Bold People Take ➞
- Why We Admire Boldness in Others ➞
- Facing Your Fears with Strength and Courage ➞
- Moving Past Your Fears to Pursue Boldness Instead ➞
- Building Your Confidence to Channel Boldness into Action ➞
(Photo by Nsey Benajah/Unsplash)
Do You Wish You Were Bolder?
You are not alone. Indeed, admiring the bold is not limited to humans. Almost universally, boldness is equated with courage, and we feel braver, stronger, and more able in its presence.
We are often in awe of those who do the things we want to do and say the things we wish we could (or would).
But it often feels safer to hold back, stay in the shadows, and avoid risking failure or ridicule. It feels safer to stay anonymous.
The truth is, though, that doing so keeps us back from full self-expression, life satisfaction, and achieving our true potential. It limits our opportunities for success and happiness.
Do you want more from your life experiences? It won’t come from sitting around waiting. Life doesn’t work like that. The rewards go to those who ask and seek. We often wish that things didn’t work that way, but all the idealistic wishing in the world won’t change what is.
If you can really take it to heart to realize what power and value there is in boldness, then instead of envying it in others, we can learn to be bold, too, and reap the benefits in our own lives.
Characteristics of Bold People
To be bold, you have to step outside of your comfort zone. If you can do that, you will succeed in reaching your goals because nothing will stop you from doing what needs to be done.
Maybe you are a person who desires this personality trait, you want to be like those who are forthright and confident.
Bold people have the willingness to take risks to get something done. These are the people who stand out from the crowd. Here are some of the characteristics they possess.
Brave and Confident
Boldness is visibly seen when people stand strong in the face of fear. If there is something unpleasant they need to do, they face it with courage. They overcome self-doubt by maintaining the momentum to see things through to completion.
They are brave enough to take on new challenges and don’t overly care what other people say. If people try to stop their dreams with criticism, they don’t allow those negativities to hold them back.
They are confident in their abilities and have high self-esteem. They are not conceited or boastful, but they are proud of who they are and what they can do.
They know they are not perfect, but they are not careless in their decisions and actions. They assess their strengths and weaknesses and use them accordingly. To minimize risks when taking action or acting boldly, they practice self-awareness to know when to engage others to compensate for their weaknesses.
Honest and Assertive
They do not beat around the bush when something needs to be said, but when they do speak up it is with tact and empathy to ensure their words are honest yet delivered with assertiveness. Bold people do not shy away from voicing their opinions about what matters to them. They are not easily intimidated.
They know people who value honesty will respect them, so bold people have the courage to be completely honest with someone if something unpleasant is bothering them.
But they also know that telling the truth and being overly critical are two different things. They don’t tell the truth to be insulting, but are brave enough to come forward rather than withholding.
Stand By Their Beliefs
They do not say ‘yes’ just to please people. They know how to say no when people unreasonably demand their time or energy, or they simply don’t have it to spare alongside their other needs and commitments. They have their priorities and objectives and know how to stick to them.
They do not yield their principles just to please somebody else, and they don’t get distracted from their goals. They hold on to their beliefs and ideologies even if people laugh in their face or are actively against them. Their moral values remain intact, and no one can make a bold person deviate from them.
You may notice that bold people not only stand by their beliefs, but also because they are not afraid or ashamed of who they are, they are happy to express themselves in how they act, what they wear, and what they say.
Goal-Setter and Achiever
Bold people make plans and follow through. They set SMART goals and achieve them! They take action without hesitation, enjoy the learning along the way, and take pride and satisfaction in their achievements. They don’t give up in doing their best to succeed.
They also make time for things that matter to them with remarkable stamina while carrying out and completing their tasks. They are energetic and enthusiastic about what they do.
Bold people are those who happily act and do something to help themselves or others in need, to both create and experience a better world. They don’t just sit and watch silently while adversity strikes. They take action to help alter their own and other people’s misfortune into favorable situations.
Being bold is a positive trait and shows strength of character. It doesn’t mean rudeness or disrespect. It shows the ability to be fearless in doing new things, and wisely trusting in your abilities to make a difference. You can start being bold by being true to yourself.
Actions that Bold People Take
Being bold in your actions is one way you can be happy and fulfilled in life. You are assertive and confident. Being bold is an admirable trait that can make people be in awe of your courage and determination.
Most people, who may want to be bold but aren’t, are the ones who don’t dare show their genuine selves for fear of being criticized or rejected.
Bold people push their limits and boundaries, whereas others may think it impossible so they don’t bother.
Boldness influences the outcomes of our actions, and if we dare it, can improve all aspects of our life. Since we have unique personalities, we also have unique expressions and intensity of boldness. Here are a few bold actions some people may typically take.
Assert Their Desires Where Others Won’t
Making the first move when interacting with others is hard for most people. However, a bold person has confidence and can talk to others easily. They can also admit their mistakes, swallow their pride and apologize to someone if necessary.
They do not hesitate in asking questions, making introductions, or asking for a promotion if they think they deserve it. In connection with their honesty, being assertive about the things they want in life is part of their agenda.
They do not hesitate to ask for what they feel they deserve in relationships or work. Instead of waiting to be noticed for their efforts, they step forward and voice their desires.
They live earnestly and fully without holding back when it comes to their relationships and work. Every day of their life is precious, so they make the most of it. Their boldness comes from within and not from external influences. They believe opportunities will open if they are bold enough to act.
Try New Adventures
A significant part of their life satisfaction comes from creating and engaging in new experiences and stimulation by constantly exploring what’s available to them. They thrive on the extraordinary.
Encouraging themselves and others in trying something different gives them new meaning in life. They push themselves to do things that expand their world further.
Their friends never know what to expect next, as they are always learning new things and embarking on new adventures. It’s the bold people who often talk you into doing something you never thought you would, but they are also usually willing to go through the experience together with you, not just push you off on your own.
Take Calculated Risks
Even though life has no guarantees that things will always work out, bold people set their own challenges or goals to hit, knowing there are risks involved. However, they calculate the risks first. They do not put themselves or anyone else in unnecessary danger by being reckless.
They are prepared and ready to accept the consequences of possible failure, and can accept it as a learning experience and a possible gateway to developing new competencies or discovering new opportunities rather than feeling it to be a total loss.
They believe that some goals can’t be reached without taking risks which might incur some losses along the way, so they would rather take a meaningful risk than not take any action at all.
Therefore, they often make decisions that they feel are right, which encourage them to act boldly in the face of potential risks. They feed on their intuition and believe in their decisions despite other people’s possible skepticism.
Ask Questions That Might Raise Eyebrows
Bold people can ask questions that others wish they could ask but would never dare for fear of raising eyebrows. They ask, not because of arrogance, but out of curiosity and the desire for more knowledge and better understanding.
Their continual questioning has made them develop openness and straightforwardness, and all this practice makes them even bolder.
Why We Admire Boldness in Others
Boldness is a prominent character trait of most leaders who excel in their fields of interest.
Those who have mastered boldness to make great things happen inspire us and keep us motivated in reaching our own goals.
We get inspiration from them so that we too can act boldly and make our lives better. With their success, they help others to grow and do something significant for themselves.
Even though a person may be shy or fearful, they are captivated by another person’s boldness. They often desire to be more like them. Here are the reasons why we admire boldness in others.
They Stand By Their Values and Beliefs
They stand up for what they believe in. They are true to themselves, whereas many people often stay quiet and won’t speak up for what they believe in for fear of being ridiculed, isolated, or rejected.
Bold people are not ashamed of their beliefs and opinions. Encountering people like this makes us admire them for being able to speak up and not blindly follow others, despite facing possible negative consequences.
Even though they are not afraid to speak up, we also appreciate how they respond to others, as they try to impact positively on others and make them feel empowered, too.
They promote integrity, responsibility, compassion, and forgiveness, and know that a strong leader requires a strong relationship with others. They maintain a strong relationship that produces a sense of partnership, so everyone can work together and deliver positive results.
By having integrity, they behave according to their values and beliefs. Taking responsibility for their choices, they own their mistakes and learn from them. Compassion and forgiveness are given and taught by bold individuals who understand and care for other people and themselves.
Sometimes, their boldness makes them them feel not as agreeable as we would always like, but they eventually get the respect and admiration they deserve.
They Take Risks and Chances Despite Their Fears
They consider courage to be a necessary leadership skill. It is admirable because being courageous makes them challenge conservative approaches and discover strategic and operating skills that deliver results. It also enables them to give undesirable but important feedback when disagreeing with someone else’s action or decision.
We admire their courage in taking calculated risks about a major decision. They are bold enough to embrace their fears to keep moving ahead.
They accept that experiencing setbacks is an opportunity for growth and maturity in their endeavors. Their learnings are vital in getting to the next level in their business or work.
If they are afraid of doing some things, they are still willing to take chances that will help them to achieve their objectives. Even when their relationships or career stability may become uncertain, they still take chances in the belief that good will come from their decisions, whether it results in the desired outcome or not. And even when they don’t get the outcome they want, they’re not left living with regrets or wondering about what might have been.
They Have a Confident Mindset
People who show boldness attract our attention because of their confidence and determination. They have a bold attitude in creating opportunities for themselves to get what they want.
People who have succeeded in the past believe they will succeed again in the future. If there is a difficult objective, they see it as a challenge that can be mastered rather than a threat to steer clear from.
Their confidence enables them to face uncertainty about the future through their optimism. They keep trying even when progress is slow, accept corrections, and draw the line when other people discourage them from pursuing their goals.
If defeated, they see it as a further challenge and strive even harder. They hate the thought of quitting or giving up. That’s not their mindset.
They Are Dedicated and Progressive
It’s admirable to see boldness in people who set ambitious goals and maintain a strong commitment to achieving them. They sustain their efforts even in failure to quickly recover after setbacks. We look up to them because if we were in their shoes, we might have given up due to all the obstacles.
They try to motivate others to undertake challenging goals and go beyond their perceived abilities. However, the necessary changes needed for continual improvement may make them stand apart and become unpopular. Even though admired for their own bold abilities, others may not like feeling like they have to keep up to do as they do. But if a bold person attracts and cultivates followers who admire and support them, it usually foretells compounded success and further builds their confidence and reputation.
Being bold is a positive trait and one of the skills needed to be an achiever. However, while it’s good to admire the boldness in others for the above reasons, you don’t have to imitate them all fully if you don’t authentically want to. You can have a powerful personal brand by taking your own efforts to the next level that’s most appropriate for you.
Start with a big dream, but choose wisely the ideas or visions that fuel you to take action. You can say and do what others are afraid to do, but your legacy should be who or what you want to be in this world.
Facing Your Fears with Strength and Courage
Every person experiences fear in their life. It’s part of being human and is a typical response to any stress or anxiety-inducing event or circumstance. Fear is an automatic defense mechanism we possess, which helps us to stay safe.
It’s important to feel fear so that we don’t put ourselves in danger. However, when we become unreasonably fixated on our fears, we allow them to entrench and grow inside us, which then becomes self-sabotaging rather than helpful.
Fear can hold us back from many wonderful things and ultimately make life more challenging than it needs to be. You won’t be empowered to take action if a fearful mindset holds you back.
You have to be mindful of what stresses you out or makes you fearful so that you can keep your fears under control and overcome them. You can have the courage to face your fears and not let them control you if you choose to do so.
Common Fears Experienced
Here are some of the fears many people face. Do you experience the same fears? If so, you can start taking steps to know them, own them, and overcome them.
Feelings of Inadequacy
Many people feel inadequate in their life. They don’t have the job they want, the skills they need, or the ‘things’ that they feel will make them love life more. They are fearful that their perceived inadequacies will deny them the successes they seek.
If you are constantly and unreasonably afraid of not being or having whatever is needed to reach your goals, you will make your life an unhappy one. Your fears of inadequacy may push you to lengths that will hurt you emotionally.
Not Meeting Expectations
It’s can be hard to take risks and be bold in your life if others are counting on you for emotional and financial stability. Perhaps you are afraid you might fail in a new venture which will not just affect you but others, too.
Your fears of not meeting their expectations can keep you from taking action and you can begin to feel powerless. Or you may be afraid that if you leave your current situation you may place undue pressure on others to compensate for the change.
You may feel held back from starting a new venture that could propel you to new heights because of potential hardships that may have to be endured in the process.
This fear can make it difficult to make a change and keep you stuck in a rut.
Uncertainty of the Future
You may worry about what might happen before it even does, due to the inability to know what might happen in the future. Your fears are caused by things you can’t control, such as illness or another pandemic, economic setbacks, stock market fluctuations, interest rates rising, and so on.
All these uncontrollable situations prevent you from pursuing goals that could make you fulfilled and happy and might even put you in a better position or develop your resiliency to better deal with crisis events if they do eventually occur.
You Have to Face Your Fears
To be happy and healthy, you have to face your fears head-on and overcome them. Perhaps some of the reasons for your fears are valid. However, accepting all your negative thoughts without bounds can be destructive. If fear determines your choices in life, it leads to a fruitless or frustrating existence. It can stop your progress because you are afraid of taking chances.
When you allow your fears to control you, you will become immobilized. Your fears will have power over your emotions. By facing your fears with courage, you will develop strength and confidence.
To succeed in life, be more courageous and face your fears. Having courage is a life skill that will help you reach your goals.
Moving Past Your Fears to Pursue Boldness Instead
As long as you are gripped with fears, they can prevent you from taking control of your life. Fears can prevent you from moving forward and achieving your dreams and desires.
It’s time to overcome your fears and possess the courage you need to be bold in your life. Here are some of the things you can do in order to do just that.
Confront Your Fears
The first thing you need to do is to confront your fears. They are only fears because you allow them to be. Determine what they are and expose yourself to them.
Start with your smallest fears, and then move on to the bigger ones as you start to feel more in control. The more you face your fears, the more you can control them.
Be courageous and shut down your negative self-talk to help improve your mindset. Base your decisions on where your best long-term interest lies so that you can move forward boldly. Training yourself to confront your fears will make you feel stronger and more confident.
Choose Boldness Over Fear
If a task paralyzes you with fear, you need to face that fear and push through it. You need to tell yourself that you won’t die doing it! You’ll probably be exuberant with joy when you complete it.
Fear is an indicator that you feel you don’t have what it takes to do something, but feelings aren’t reality. And even when they are, we still have the power to change that reality by taking intentional steps to close the gap between where we are and where we want to be.
However, if you don’t even try, you may miss out on amazing opportunities. Therefore, by managing your fears the world will open up to you. But simply wishing without action won’t overcome fears.
To be bold, you need to take action and commit to focusing on something besides your fears. Write down actionable steps and take that action. Soon your fears will fade, and you will create new possibilities for your life!
Free Yourself from Things You Can’t Control
We cannot control everything that happens in our life, but we can control our present choices and actions. Be proactive in the things you can control, and free yourself from fears of the things that you can’t.
You may need to take some time to reflect on past decisions where you had no control. Did these situations make you fearful? If so, these are the fears that can hold you back. Self-reflection helps to make better choices.
Life gives us many opportunities. You just have to choose what is suited for you, without being ruled over or shut down by external factors or influences. Free from fear.
Even if uncontrollable setbacks happen, they will just require adjustments of strategy to push past or create detours that will expose you to new experiences, resources, and skill development to work with. They’re not likely to permanently prevent you from pursuing your goals unless you personally choose to do something different because you’ve discovered even more compelling opportunities elsewhere.
Always remember that while we don’t have the ability to know or control everything the future might bring, the unexpected has just as much possibility of bringing something good, especially if we are willing to watch out for that good or work with the situation to help create it instead of assuming the worst and reacting from fear.
Be Optimistic and Remove Negativity from Your Life
It’s always best to surround yourself with people who are optimistic, as negative people can bring you down. They can fill your head with fear and doubt, so don’t let that happen!
You can better overcome your fears if your mind is a positive, optimistic one. Positivity will give you more energy and a less stressed state of mind for tackling your challenges. It will also help keep you engaged with the rest of the world where you might find more helpful resources and assistance to work with than if you become withdrawn and alone.
Positive people can help you be optimistic and inspire you to be hopeful and confident about gaining positive outcomes, and they might also have a lot of practical experience and strategies they can share.
So overcome your fears and move towards your desired outcomes. You can’t fulfill your life purpose if you allow your fears to hold you back. Your life will grow in direct proportion with your courage.
Building Your Confidence to Channel Boldness into Action
Are you still waiting for the right moment? There will never be the right time other than right now!
Everyone is a craftsman of their own happiness. You need to be bold enough to create opportunities instead of waiting for them.
Start by re-creating your routine one small change at a time. Making small changes will develop your courage into making bigger changes.
You can start with these steps to build up your confidence, which will support you in becoming bolder in your actions.
Rediscover Your Inner Self with Honesty
Don’t worry about what is the “right” thing you should be doing. Instead establish what you want to do and don’t want to do. Also, determine your strengths and weaknesses. Accept past failures and mistakes to allow yourself to keep moving forward.
Any bold moves you make should not be randomly done. Think before you act, and be honest with yourself. Figure out who you are and want to be, and what you truly want in life. Don’t let fear of showing your individuality stop you from having a happy and fulfilled life.
Trying new things and stepping out of your comfort zone can make you feel vulnerable and afraid. However, you will also be presented with new opportunities you may not otherwise have seen.
Your boldness will grow over time because you will see your strengths and be more forgiving of your weaknesses. As you rediscover who you are, you will find yourself much more ready to try something new.
Write Down All Your Fears
Determine which fears are holding you back from reaching your goals.
Is it a fear of failure? Fear of making mistakes, or a fear of not having enough skills?
If you write down your fears, it will help you control your negative responses to them and give you the opportunity to grow and act more boldly on your goals.
Aside from your fears, write down your strengths and weaknesses. Congratulate yourself on your strengths and see which weaknesses you can work on to achieve your dreams faster. Think long-term, but act short-term.
Practice Being Brave, Bold, and Courageous
It’s important to distinguish courage and boldness from foolish rashness. Being bold doesn’t mean being stupid. If you have courage you have control over your fears. You have to be bigger than your fears to create the opportunities you need to succeed in life.
Step out of your comfort zone with courage. Challenge yourself and use your voice confidently when you need to in order to see changes in some areas of your life. Learn to stand for what you believe in.
Stop Thinking Negatively
How do you talk to yourself? What does your inner voice say to you? Can you hear your own words to yourself? Are they negative or positive?
If you want to have a bold mindset, you need to stop talking negatively to yourself. Listen to your positive self and not other people’s opinions, criticisms, or perceptions of you.
Remember, succeeding at what is important to you will make you happy, but it won’t necessarily make other people happy. It may be quite the opposite, where their jealousy or competitiveness or desire for power or control will grow and they will try to undermine or exploit you.
Be bold, be courageous, and stand true! Don’t listen to negative talk from yourself or others. Make adjustments to your support network and find new ways to keep yourself inspired and encouraged if your current situation doesn’t give you the support you need.
Boldness is an exceptional and powerful trait that nourishes your self-confidence and propels you toward your goals. Yet, you don’t have to go far from who you already are. Stay true to yourself and don’t just imitate others. Living your true passion and purpose and taking action will be more easily done as you grow bolder and more confident.
Conclusion
Being bold is equated with courage most simply because being bold takes courage. For someone not used to displaying acts of boldness, it definitely requires moving beyond the comfort zone.
However, the potential rewards for doing so are enormous. And the greatest reassurance about pursuing boldness is that it is not all or nothing.
You can choose just how bold you want to be. You can choose your battles and the areas in which you want to be more ‘out there’.
In fact, if you don’t exercise discretion in your acts of daring, you may become rash or foolhardy as you have no doubt seen others do. You can avoid this and increase your likelihood of success by planning and remaining mindful.
So don’t let fear of failure or success or of being noticed prevent your well-intentioned actions before they start. Listen less to others’ opinions and more to your own heart.
Be bold, be courageous, and be you!