Sally ZimneyFounder & CEO, Be Moved by Sally Z

How I got brave faster

25 Mar 2025 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:42

In this motivational monologue, the speaker shares a personal framework for turning fear into action. She admits she remains a "scaredy cat" but emphasizes that bravery is simply doing things despite fear. She encourages listeners to identify the activities they avoid, treat them as metaphorical cliffs, and take small, incremental risks—starting with childhood experiences like school plays, reading aloud, and improv classes. By repeatedly choosing to act, the uncomfortable feeling diminishes, leading to a cycle where others recognize the speaker as brave, even though the internal fear persists. The talk blends personal anecdotes about Minnesota theater venues with practical encouragement to "show up anyway," illustrating how repeated exposure builds confidence.

Chapters

How to go from a scaredy cat, scared to do a lot of things, to somebody who's willing to just go for it? I got some tips for you. Just to be clear, I am still a scaredy cat. The difference is I do it anyway. I say that, you wanna be like, have you ever, have you ever jumped off a cliff? No, but I don't want to. What are the things that you want to but don't feel like you can? Those are the things that I wanna nudge you right off the metaphorical cliff for. Me, it started at a fairly young age. I loved being on stage. I started taking little risks in order to do that. I didn't start as a professional actress. I didn't start at the Ordway. I didn't start at the Guthrie. Those are local Minnesota places, by the way. It was in the 5th grade play or reading out loud in class or summer school and improv class here and there. I just kept exploring the things that felt just a little bit scary afterwards felt really fun. And that is so true with a lot of the things that we want to, but we find ourselves being held back. That at the end of the day, after it's done, we go, "Oh my gosh, that was amazing!" So if you can hang on to that feeling, you'll find yourself doing more and doing anyway. You can show up anyway to the things that you want to, but It'll become easier and easier and easier, and then pretty soon people are going to say, "You're brave, you're brave." And you're going to be like, "I'm also really scared, but you're also brave. Go you."