To thrive in today’s world, one has to have a healthy dose of audacity. Whether you’re the leader of a large organization, the owner of a small business, or a family leader, you are a friend, a lover, a wife, or a husband. There’s a need for a certain amount of boldness, a certain amount of audacity.

I had my first real lesson on audacity as I entered CEGEP. I’m from Quebec. We’ve got primary school, secondary school, CEGEP, then university. I’m given a massive paper. We had to write a 30 page paper about audacity. I thought to myself, and I’m dyslexic; there is no way I can write 30 pages about one word. So What am I, what am I going to do, what’s my game plan?

We had a month to do it. So I thought to myself, okay, I will demonstrate what audacity is instead of writing about it. I took a thick pile of paper. I decided on what my title would be, and on the cover, I wrote: “Audacity Is…”. Then I numbered all my pages. And on the last page, I typed out “…this”. The whole process took quite a while, picture me typing out one number per page on an old typewriter…this was before the age of home computers!!!

Yes, I planned to hand in a blank paper, so I think I’m bloody clever, right? Everybody is struggling through this paper, and I am done within the first days! A few days before the report was due; the teacher reminded everybody that this assignment was worth a great deal. It would dictate whether we passed the entire semester! I am now sh*tting bricks! If you know me, you know that I’m uber-responsible and accountable, and I over-prepare for just about everything. So when he said that, all hell broke loose in me, for sure.

I came home crying to my mom. She thought it was pretty clever when I explained what I’d done. She asked me what I was going to do next. I said, “I could not sleep for the next three days and just do it.” Then she asked, “How do you think that will work for you?” I knew it wouldn’t; last-minute writing is not my forte. So she shared this wise advice: “I think the best thing you can do is commit to the path you’ve chosen.” Then she shared the example of a high diver. Once a diver commits to their dive, they can’t uncommit midway through. “So, you have to own your badassery at this stage of the game.”

I handed in the blank assignment. When my teacher handed them back, he made me wait until the end. On the cover of my paper, there was every grade possible, from F to A+! He had me stand up and asked me to share what I decided to do with the class and why I decided to do that. I had to position it so that my classmates would appreciate the brilliance of my plan. At that time, I was deadly afraid of public speaking. I was shaking visibly, but I made my case! After I was done, the teacher said, “I know how much you’ve agonized about this choice, Isabelle; it’s definitely worth an A+.”

There are times in life when you have to position something, and you’re scared sh*tless. There are times when you need to pull out all the stops! You have to have the audacity to do something unique! The moral of this story is don’t believe in regrets. Make decisions based on pros and cons at the moment. Make decisions with the best ability that you have. Sometimes it’s a gamble. It can’t always be black and white, yes or no. Commit to your decisions, learn from them and move forward. I’ve learned from this that sometimes you’ve got to do something crazy. Sometimes it’s going to work for you. Sometimes it won’t.

Have the audacity to say yes to what you want and to say no to what you don’t want. Commit and own your badassery. Now, what are you going to do? Be audacious and see how that feels!!

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Need help being more audacious? Get on a clarity call with us. Please fill out this Needs Assessment form so we can help you find out and understand how to deal with the challenges you are facing in your business and your life: www.leapzonestrategies.com/rise.

ISABELLE MERCIER TURCOTTE
Brand Strategist & Business Growth Catalyst
Co-Founder/CEO of LeapZone Strategies & Host of LeapTV.com
Isabelle is a ‘no-nonsense’ dynamo, born to catapult passionate entrepreneurs to build impactful brands, businesses and lives. As one of North America’s Top Business Influencers, best-selling author, two-times TEDx speaker with over 3.8 Million views, and TV show host, Isabelle’s sole purpose is to empower change and growth.

To explore working with Isabelle,
simply fill out LeapZone’s Needs Assessment here and we will connect to book your free clarity call. You can also find Isabelle on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/leapzone/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/leapzoneleader/