A brief spoken reflection by Brian Johnson that revisits Teddy Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" passage (April 23, 1910) and highlights Brene Brown's related insights from Daring Greatly about vulnerability, critics versus supporters, and untethering self-worth from the opinions of those 'in the bleachers.' The speaker emphasizes compassion for others and appreciation for loved ones who stand with us in the arena.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. Back in the day we had a plus one on the optimizer in the arena in which we reflected on Teddy Roosevelt's epic citizenship in a republic speech that became known as the man in the arena speech. Here's the quick recap. It's April 23rd, 1910. 52 year old Teddy Roosevelt has already served two terms as the US President. Here's the passage that's worth tattooing on our consciousness. He says, 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 and 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 know neither victory nor defeat. Brene Brown wrote a whole book whose title Daring Greatly was inspired by that speech. It's awesome. Today I want to do two things. Number one, shine a spotlight on that Roosevelt mojo from above one more time. We'll consider that part done. And number two, I want to shine a spotlight on some Brene Brown wisdom on the subject in daring Grayley, she says, I quote, going back to Roosevelt's man in the arena speech. I also learned that the people who love me, the people I really depend on, were never the critics who were pointing at me while I stumbled. They weren't in the bleachers at all. They were with me in the arena, fighting for me. And with me. She says nothing has transformed my life more than realizing that it's a waste of time to evaluate my worthiness by weighing the reaction of the people in the stands. The people who love me and will be there regardless of the outcome are within arm's reach. This realization has changed everything. I love that today's plus one. Let's remember two things. The people who love us will be there regardless of how we fare in the arena. Very important. And number two, the people not living their own hero's journey, daring greatly in their own arenas will be our most vocal critics. There's basically an inverse relationship between the vitriol of someone's criticism and their own engagement in the arena. Meaning the less a person is daring greatly, the more they're prone to criticize those who are those who are all in get just how hard it is to step into the arena and offer compassion rather than criticism. By the way, notice this goes both ways. When we are most engaged in our lives, we criticize a lot less than we're not. So if you're all snippety snipsauce, check in and see how you may not be rocking it. Rather than find all the things someone else is doing wrong, as Brene advises, we need to untie our sense of worthiness from the opinions of those in the bleachers. Period. She then quotes her friend Scott Stratton, who wrote a book called Unmarketing, his immortal words captured perfectly. He says, quote, don't try to win over the haters. You're not the jackass whisperer. Here's to standing wholeheartedly in our worthiness. As Bernay would say, appreciate our loved ones in the arena who have our backs and have compassion for those who are struggling with their own vulnerability. As we dare greatly today.
