When I was in high school, I was part of a group of girls who met up and talked about God and general self-improvement with a Christian leaning. I mention this now because one thing that my group leader (kind of like our mentor) said that stuck to me was that to make something a habit, you had to keep doing it consecutively for something like 30 days. I think at the time, she was trying to incorporate working out into her own personal routine.

Now, it’s probably not going to work out the same way if you want to be a brave person. Bravery isn’t a tangible action where you can chart your progress with numbers and data, and bravery doesn’t really mean just one thing since we are all driven by different fears. We all react differently, too, and to add to that whole mixed bag of subjectivity, we all also perceive bravery differently.
Still, doing one thing that scares you everyday is going to make you more at ease with facing other difficult things in your life.

Arriane, of Wanderrgirl, just launched this project called #30BraveDays, where she aims to make bravery a habit. So, beginning April 1st—and this isn’t a joke—everyone is invited to do join in and make bravery a habit. I placed a comment on her blog post and said that I wanted to join in but didn’t know if I could commit, but she pushed me (hehe, pleasantly) and now here I am.


© Arriane Serafico

Like I said, bravery is subjective. You have to do something that you a) have been putting off, b) are a bit terrified of doing, c) need to but aren’t used to, and so on.

For most of the human race, a phone call isn’t a big deal, but I distinctly remember trying to get work when I was a fresh grad and absolutely dreading picking up calls I knew were for business. Did I want the work? Heck yes! But sometimes, fear of a thing is what hinders you from doing something you need or even want to do. I remember all of the phone calls I took and what it felt like to be talking to this person on the other end of the line, trying to concentrate on what they were saying and not thinking about being scared shitless.

Well, funnily enough, I got over that silly fear. I still don’t like talking on the phone or sometimes even talking in person, but I don’t have to pause and take a deep breath anymore, over the scary thought of fumbling over my words or saying something dumb. (A little off-tangent, but: A friend described his propensity to be off on his own as a result of thinking he is misrepresenting himself to other people, and that is exactly how I feel about that.)

So, it made me think that consciously doing something scary and trying to be brave each day in April might actually do my soul some good. Truth time: I do not actually recognize who I’ve become maybe 30% of the time. I’ve written about this strange feeling a few times, but I feel like now’s the time I actually do something about it and get to know myself again, or at least have a deliberate hand in sort of molding who I will become.

Phew.

So, today is the first day. We are more than halfway into the day, and I don’t think I’ve done anything yet that I consider brave. I’ll get to it, though, I promise.

If you’d like to join in, the “mechanics” are pretty simple. Just do one brave thing each day, for thirty days. Arriane encourages posting about it (aptly hashtagged as such: #30BraveDays), but I know that some of you aren’t really active on the internet and, personally, I think that’s fine.

Anyway, if you choose to document it, don’t forget the hashtag, so we can all be encouraged and inspired by one another. I’ll be posting my daily brave things on my Instagram (@presidents) and maybe I’ll do a weekly recap here.
Good luck to everyone who’ll be joining in. I’m a little scared, but I’m pretty excited.