1. Participate
So often in life it's easier to be a spectator. I've been guilty of watching other people do things that I'm too afraid to try myself. It's intimidating to try something new; not knowing if you're going to be good at it or look like a total idiot. But you'll never know by sitting on the sidelines and wondering. Life isn't a spectator sport, and my first step at leading a braver life was getting out there and doing new things.
I've surprised myself this year with the amount of things I've said 'yes' to trying. And I've found some things I'm good at, like riding a motorbike and writing limericks, and things I'm not so good at, like surfing.
2. Do things alone
This was a pretty tough one for me. If I wanted to participate in something but didn't have anyone to do it with I would always back out. I'd use my lack of company as an excuse to stay home and binge on Netflix. But once I got over my fear of doing things alone, I became free to try really anything. If you don't have someone to participate with you, so what? You're still capable.
I did things this year on my own like going to a womens conference, travelling to Sydney, attending writing workshops, going to cafes and libraries and the beach. And I had a great time doing all of it, with only myself as company.
3. Fake it
I believe self doubt is our greatest hinderance to being brave. That little voice in your head that says you can't do something. If we let the voice get too loud we'll never step out and do anything new. So I've learned to talk back. When self doubt is shouting, I like to come back with a whisper; I can, and I will. Watch me.
In instances like this, after self doubt has been quieted, I've found the best thing to do is just pretend to know what you're doing even if, especially if, you don't.
I've used this tactic a lot when doing new things alone, like travelling. When self doubt was like, 'you're going to get so lost in this airport' I laughed and pretended like I had been in that massive airport hundreds of times before and knew exactly what I was doing. In the end, the terminals practically beaconed me and self doubt was dead for that day.
