- Now, more than ever, we need more bravery in the world. Someone out there is waiting for your bravery, your big idea, your dream…
- The biggest feats of bravery are often unseen, hidden from the public eye. True bravery doesn’t look like we think it does.
- Heroes are not born; they are grown. Bravery is a nurtured skill; it is not hereditary, nor an innate talent.
- Bravery is worth it, needed, and contagious. These are the 3 reasons why people do brave things.
- There are 3 kinds of bravery: internal (witnessed only by yourself), external (with more than one witness), resonant (acts that inspire bravery in others).
- There are 12 ingredients of bravery. Each feat of bravery will require a slightly different recipe using these same 12 ingredients. When we can practice the recipe, then accomplishing each feat of bravery will steadily feel easier as we get more experience using the recipe. Understanding this recipe can turn our fear into a life filled with creative courage.
- The world is waiting for your uniquely individual bravery. Your uniqueness is how your bravery is found by those who need it. Every piece of your individual personhood contributes to making your bravery the exact thing someone else in the world needs. There is no such thing as generic bravery. Each journey to building bravery is unique.
- "Fearless" is a dangerous myth. Fear is a good thing. Fear is to be respected, honored, and used. Believing otherwise will put an individual, organization, family, creative project, or an entire society at unnecessary risk of making less-than-ideal or perhaps deadly decisions.
- The agony of courage is overrated. Bravery does not require martyrdom, burnout, or panic. Not all heroes are martyrs and not all martyrs are heroes. Bravery doesn’t need to feel like reckless chaos, panic attacks, lonely darkness, deafening brick walls, or an endless treadmill. Pushing the struggle bus up the metaphorical hill of life is such a waste. Life is hard enough as it is! Why punish ourselves unnecessarily?
- Bravery can feel easier. This is why we practice building bravery every day, so that it feels easier tomorrow. It is possible to use your fear to get what you want for yourself, for others, for the world. Using fear with joy, ease, and pleasure can unlock our deepest desires. Using fear can empower us to do things we never thought were possible. We’ve seen it happen time and time again with each of our students.
- Building bravery is easiest when we are our most whole selves. We can make the world a better place with honesty, compassion, and generosity. True bravery demands that we create space for the realities of life and community. Instead of regurgitating trends and expectations from our respective industries, we structure our productivity, careers, creative projects, and businesses around our values as humans and as citizens of the world. As Dr. Shinichi Suzuki said, "First character, then ability."
- Anyone can learn how to build their bravery -- The School of Bravery's online community echoes this. Anyone above the age of 18 years old who wants to join in the daily practice of building bravery in an inclusive, compassionate environment can do so with The School of Bravery -- regardless of their race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, criminal history, or political views.
- The place where you build bravery should feel like a soft place to land. It should be a safe place for encountering new (and old) learning curves. Practically speaking, all of this happens online through group coaching, masterclasses, office hours, and other community events by by joining forces to focus on 1 ingredient of bravery each month.
- Building bravery makes us strong, sustainable, and resilient. One of our students, Carla Gover, put it beautifully, “It is our defiant expectation that we will emerge from this new world... with greater financial stability and well-being than ever before.”
Note: In The School of Bravery we use the words "courage" and "bravery" as equal, interchangeable synonyms. Though they have different historical origins and, at times, varying uses within our culture today, both words ultimately refer to the same concepts we teach in our curriculum.
If any of this resonates with you, consider it your personal invitation to join us!
last updated June 1st, 2020.
copyright 2020 - Emily Ann Peterson & The School of Bravery