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The Practice of Getting Bolder
Unstuck Monthly | January 2026
Small actions today build the nerve for bigger moves tomorrow.
The last few years have been hard. Chaos became normal. Bad leadership goes unchecked. Many of us learned that sticking our necks out costs too much, so we started making ourselves smaller—a little quieter in meetings, a little slower to speak up, a little more willing to tolerate what we know is broken.
If that's you, you're not alone. I hear this story constantly from the leaders I work with. Many have been patching themselves together for years, building back enough confidence to function, but not enough to lead fully. And they're exhausted.
When we make ourselves smaller, we stop trusting our own judgment, we second-guess decisions we would have made easily five years ago, and we tolerate treatment we know is wrong. Slowly, we become exactly what chaos creators need us to be: compliant, quiet, manageable.
My clients and I are exploring a way out, and it's counterintuitive.
Many of us have been told that we need radical change—a bold move, a fresh start, the nerve to finally do the big scary thing we've been avoiding.
But I’d argue that’s backwards.
The nerve doesn't come first. The small actions do.
Our brains literally build new wiring for courage through repetition, not through waiting for confidence to arrive. We don't rebuild confidence by waiting to feel ready and then making one giant leap. We rebuild it through small, intentional experiments. It begins by trying something slightly different, noticing what happens, and building evidence that you can handle more than you think. (The neuroscience behind this—habit formation and neural pathways—explains why small actions literally rewire our brains for courage.)
This is how we actually build courage. It compounds.
If you've been letting someone else handle communication with senior leadership, step in once this week. If you've handed off every meeting, take one meeting back. If you've been avoiding a conversation for three weeks, have it today.
What you're looking for is the small win. The moment when you act and nothing terrible happens. When you realize your judgment was sound. When you see that you don't need perfect conditions to move forward.
Then you do it again, slightly bolder. That one email becomes two. The meeting you took back becomes the presentation you lead. The tough conversation becomes the difficult decision.
Each experiment builds evidence. Each piece of evidence makes the next action easier. Eventually, you have the nerve for the moves that feel impossible right now.
This is my year of nerve. I'm growing my business in ways that scare me. I'm codifying what I do and who I serve, which also means being clear about who I'm not for. I'm meeting people and talking about my work in ways that might not land perfectly. I'm not waiting for confidence to arrive—I'm building it through action, one small experiment at a time.
I work with ambitious leaders who know what needs to change but haven't found the nerve to change it yet. The gap between knowing and doing closes through practice.
What if 2026 was the year we stopped making ourselves smaller? Pick one small experiment this week, notice what happens, and then try something slightly bigger next week. Watch what becomes possible when you stop waiting for courage to arrive and start building it instead.
Thank you for getting unstuck with me!
Until next time,
Alex
P.S. What's one small experiment you could try this week? Reply and tell me—I'd love to hear what you're working on.
My work with Alex brought me out of a place of self-doubt as a professional and leader. Our coaching pushed my thinking and reflection and gave me a sounding board for developing my ideas. —Managing Director of Strategy
Self-reflection questions:
Where have you been making yourself smaller without realizing it?
What's one small win you could pursue this week that feels almost trivial?
What evidence do you already have that you can handle more than you think?
You understand what needs to change. Ready to make 2026 your year of nerve?
I work with ambitious leaders who want to stop retreating and start leading boldly. If you're ready to rebuild nerve through deliberate practice, let's talk about what that looks like for you.
Great conversations start with shared insights. If you know someone who's ready to stop playing small, I'd love for you to share this with them.
