Bob Bukowski

Your entire life will change when you realize that courage is the single most important human trait. In 1942, author C.S. Lewis offered this brilliant characterization: "Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality." Courage is who you are when it's inconvenient. When no one is watching. When the rewards are uncertain. When the outcomes are unpredictable. It's easy to declare our values, principles, and virtues in times of peace—it's hard to live by them in times of war. Courage is defined at the testing point. You are defined at the testing point. The truth: Talent and intelligence are abundant. Courage is not. There’s someone out there living the life you want simply because they had the courage to act. They aren’t smarter than you. They aren’t more talented than you. They just took action when you didn’t. They recognized that fear comes from inexperience, not incapability. You're afraid because you haven't done it yet, not because you can't do it. Inexperience is the problem to be solved, and it's only solved through having the courage to act. They realized that the worst prison in the world is having the talent and intelligence to achieve something great but lacking the courage to go out and do it. They understood that the regret from inaction is always worse than the regret from action. But here's the most empowering thought: Courage is not born, it is chosen. Every single day, you get to choose how you show up at your testing point. You have agency. You are at the wheel. You are in control of your future with your actions in the present. The challenges do not get any easier—if anything, they get harder as you rise—but you get stronger. You grow. You change. When you arrive at your testing point and choose to show up as the highest version of yourself, you become different. The stoic philosopher Seneca once wrote: "It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult." You cannot build a life of meaning, purpose, and character by taking the easy path at the testing point. Choose to dare. Choose hard. Choose courage. Courage now, easy later. If you enjoyed this, you're going to love my 7x NYT bestselling book, The 5 Types of Wealth. It will help you design the life you want, and then take the right actions to go out and build it. Join 200,000+ others and order it here (30% sale!): amazon.com/gp/product/059372… P.S. Email your receipt to [email protected] and I'll send you a 50+ page companion workbook to go deeper on the most important exercises.

One of my favorite pieces of advice I’ve ever received: Regret is much more painful than failure.

I can’t stop thinking about the BS Asymmetry Principle: The energy required to refute bullshit is much larger than the energy required to produce it. This is why BS spreads so easily—especially online. It's also why we need to make a deliberate effort to fight back against it.