Boldness! Perhaps no other quality is as misunderstood as this one. Very often I believe that we confuse Brashness with Boldness and venerate those who act and speak with insolence. In so doing, we miss the meaning of Boldness. Boldness is not insolence. Boldness is not effrontery. Boldness is not impertinence. Boldness is not bluntness. Boldness is not impudence.
Boldness is a quality that empowers us to step into territory that may be heretofore unknown and/or unexplored. Boldness is the quality that pushes us forward through fear and into the arena of discovery. Boldness is courage in action.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
Read that quote carefully. Do you see what it says about dreaming and doing? It says that whatever we can do or dream we can do, we must BEGIN it! It says nothing about completing it. It says nothing about accomplishing it. It says nothing about succeeding at it. It simply equates Boldness with Beginning. There is real power in that perspective. Beginning is doing. Beginning is acting. Beginning is experimenting. Beginning is asking. Beginning is giving. Beginning is, well, Beginning!
This take on Boldness carries three distinct operatives that if understood, can guide us to live more meaningful and purposeful lives.
Let’s look briefly at each of those operatives:
- Boldness has Genius. Genius is necessary for discovery. It is necessary for purposeful risk-taking. It is necessary for exploration. It is necessary innovation. Genius is necessary for peaceful coexistence. Genius is necessary to eliminate ignorance.
- Boldness has Power. Power is necessary for movement forward. It is necessary for generating inertia. It is necessary for maintaining focus. It is necessary for creating connections. It is necessary for the continuation of life itself. Power is necessary for purposeful leadership to emerge.
- Boldness has Magic. Magic is necessary for the conceptualization of dreams. It is necessary to believe in the possible. It is necessary to challenge the impossible. It is necessary to understand the incomprehensible. Magic is necessary to begin any journey worth taking.
Boldness will carry us forward through any difficulty and challenge we face and empower us for the journey ahead. Me we all become so Bold!
Peace!
Mark E. Hundley
