The Man In The Arena

Personally I’ve been making a lot of big moves in my life, and I wanted to reflect on the value of acting boldly. There is something to be said about standing up for yourself, taking a chance on things you believe in, and moving confidently in the direction of your dreams and desires. Maybe that message is meaningfulI coming from me, but someone who has shaped history through his bold action-taking is former president Teddy Roosevelt. In case you haven’t heard it, I wanted to share his famous “Man In The Arena” speech. Contrary to the title, of course this applies to both men and women.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

This speech shares an incredible lesson and speaks to the value of the attempt. There is no future payoff without present effort, and the piece that’s always in your control is the effort you put into it. Roosevelt describes that success is found in the process of becoming, not the outcome of doing, and we all must embrace our own process to achieve our own greatness.