In a conversation this week, I asked one member of the Change Makers community how they wanted to grow as a leader this year. He replied: “Three words, Digby: Just be bolder!”

Love it!

In the face of a relentless barrage of stuff coming at us every day, from the never-ending media doom loops to demands on our time from all quarters, it’s tempting to shrink back into our caves. It can sometimes feel easier to choose the path of least resistance, keep your head down, and limit your efforts on dealing with whatever lands in your inbox.

Yet the world doesn’t change by playing it safe.

It changes by playing it bold.

I asked him what I would notice if he was being bolder. “When I share a potentially controversial idea, I’d move from being someone who thinks ‘maybe I shouldn’t have said that’ to someone who thinks ‘maybe that will get them thinking differently’ and be OK with whatever happens next”.

Cool.

Recently I wrote about why swagger matters and how to get it back. I reckon there’s a direct line between swagger and bold. Swagger is the feeling, bold is the action. Swagger comes from being grounded in your conviction to do the work that most matters to you. When you’ve got that, you can’t help but have bold as the by-product.

Some people say I’m bold. Perhaps. What I know to be true is that I’m doing the work and living a life that long ago I decided was worth the risk of diverting from the ‘safe option’. What is safe, anyway? My partner and I remind each other “we don’t want a half-life, we want a full life.” From that decision, bold actions come.

All change-makers take bold action by being grounded in their convictions. They know what matters most to them and they never compromise on it.

As you get older, what will drive you to be bolder?

I’ll leave you with this short clip from George Clooney on how you learn nothing from success, the fear of failure, and why bold matters, especially as you get older.

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For more like this, check out:

Do You Need Confidence, or Courage?

Five Disciplines for Making Change Happen

Why Swagger Matters, and How to Get it Back