So, what is a bold step you can take this year?

My step is what I’m writing about today.

When the world is loud, it is bold to be quiet.

When life gets complicated, it’s bold to simplify.

Boldness is also nuanced, and we all know how much we hate nuance these days. The kids would say, “Nuance, give me the ick.”

I say ick, with a hint of running from the truth and notes of laziness, because overwhelm is a choice, with a little cardamom and the irresponsible use of words like dopamine, mitochondria, and vagus nerve. I thrive in nuance even more than I kick ass at riding a jet ski.

Sure, you can be the radically bold individual wearing a fire hat, some LED light-up pants, and hula hooping at your next job interview. They will remember your boldness, like I remember a late-night fist fight breaking out in a porta-potty while I was getting gas once. Being remembered is easy. However, when choosing an act of boldness, challenge yourself internally more than the outside world. Find the nuance between a courageous, confident act, a spectacle, or a tantrum. 

It’s bold to express, to ask for help, to trust, but the nuance lies in how that bold act challenges your courage and confidence. Go in and find your bold act, feel it open you up and excite you, then scare you a little. My boldest act of last year was being brave enough to stop chasing success and trust that it’s happening, and I expressed that by taking a lot of naps.

Being still in chaos is bold. It’s hard to stay put and peaceful in a mass of people running full speed at the last roll of toilet paper. Optimism is bold, while others stare at their phones to make sure their greatest fears are still alive and well. Can you boldly trust change? A person who is overwhelmed, scared, or tired will fight any change unless it comes in the form of free money or some “hack” to beat the system that is oppressing them.

It is bold to witness your capacity, to admit that you need to either clear space or get a time machine. Using time and energy you don’t have can turn into debt; energy debt, financial debt, social debt by owing favors, but then nature shows up, and nature doesn’t allow for debt.

My work is about remodeling, not building from scratch. Try to remodel anything while keeping everything spotless, organized, and exactly how it is, with zero disruption to your life. Nope, not gonna happen. You can remodel your life or your kitchen; either way, it’ll get dirty, dusty, and chaotic, with surprises along the way.

I realized how bold it is to simplify and stay true to what’s real in my practice. Quietly trusting that stillness is how a seed grows. Hustle culture goes against the nature of longevity, telling the seed to get up early and chase the rain. Things are unfolding in my favor, whether I like it or not. Just show up a little each day and practice. That seed will soon grow into a new me that will feel confident wearing shorts in public.

I’m done projecting onto you. I have a small, limited lens I view life through. It’s not my place to get preachy while shouting nuance at the masses. Bold… got it!