Ever found yourself going down a rabbit hole of ‘What ifs?’

What if I mess this up? What if it all goes to hell in a handbasket? What if I just don’t have what it takes? What if ….?

You’re not alone.

Your brain isn’t wired to focus on the positives. It’s wired to focus on the negatives - on what you don’t have or don’t want to happen. Yet dwelling on deficits siphons your confidence, feeds your worries, shuts down your ability to find solutions, narrows your vision, and keeps you stuck in ruts - of thought or action - that you are wholly capable of climbing out of!

So in the latest episode of my new podcast series on closing your ‘courage gap,’ we dive into the power of focus—and how resetting your attention on what you want, rather than what you fear, can transform your life.

As I’ve written in The Courage Gap, until you are clear about what you really want, your fear of what you don’t want will direct your life.

Take a listen!

SHOW LINKS:

• Order The Courage Gap (US)

• Order The Courage Gap (Aust)

• Join Margie’s LIVE event and Book Launch Team

• Live Brave Podcast interview with Bonnie Ware

• Marathon Blog Post

• Engage Margie to speak at your event

As we step into a new year, many set resolutions — but let’s face it, the vast majority will fall by the wayside before February.

This episode kicks off the new year with a new series to celebrate my new book The Courage Gap! Tune in as I guide you to set a bold vision for your year ahead and embrace discomfort as the key to closing the gap between where you are now and where you’d like to by year end.

If you’re not okay to settle, then you need to step forward amid the unknowns. Are you ready? Let’s dive in!

LINKS:

• Order The Courage Gap on Amazon

• Special Live Event Registration

• The Courage Gap

• Margie’s Marathon Blog

This episode was recorded during my brother Frank's visit—a journey of over 10,000 miles from Australia. What makes this journey truly remarkable is that Frank, living with paraplegia, approaches travel with a 'can do' mindset that sets him apart. In a world often focused on limitations, Frank's determination to embrace new adventures despite his life-altering injury embodies the 'live brave' message of this podcast. Frank’s resilience and refusal to let his condition define him serve as a powerful testament to the human spirit. I hope his story will inspire you to be captain of your life, not captive to your circumstances.

Please support my fundraising for spinal injury research with Christopher Reeve Foundation as I prepare for my first marathon!

Link here: https://give.reeve.org/fundraiser/5440297

Not only does nobody enjoy failure, but we also often fail to learn from it, resulting in failing twice! Building on my previous podcast episode with Amy Edmondson (Episode 116), Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, we dive into her latest book, Right Kind of Wrong, and unpack the science of failing well.

This approach helps us avoid the tripwires that often crush courage, limit learning, and expose entire enterprises to greater risks. Learning how to risk more intelligent failure will not only propel you forward more quickly but also spare you the additional setback of neglecting to learn from the invaluable feedback that failure holds.

If you've been holding back from trying something due to the fear of failure, Amy's insights into befriending failure will help you summon the courage needed to take the risk.

Read Amy's book Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well

More about Amy at amycedmondson.com

Leadership isn’t about position or title. It’s about the decision we make, moment by moment, to show up… with head and heart and be a force for good in the lives of others.

In my conversation with Kirstin, we discuss her new book Head & Heart and how you can be the leader the world needs you to be. We talk about staying self-aware (easier said than done!), being humble, having the courage to say sorry and to bring both your head and heart to making each moment better for others. No small task, but one we’re all called toward in some form.

Buy Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership

Take the Head & Heart Leader Scale and self-assess your modern leadership

Learn more about Kirstin Ferguson and book her for an event

"Unsafe cultures endanger everyone," says Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor at Harvard Business School.

Amy and I unpack why courage and psychological safety are two sides of the same coin, and why fostering psychologically safe workplaces requires people to trust that the pay off for courage is worth the pitfalls.

Regardless of your position, making people feel safe to be honest and vulnerable with you – including sharing things you may not enjoy hearing - is vital for any meaningful relationship to flourish, personally or professionally.

Check out Amy’s book, The Fearless Organization

You like to think of yourself as a person with integrity, right? Yet, doing what’s right is easier said than done. In a world where examples of poor character are easy to find, it’s easy to rationalize cutting corners or telling “little white lies". However, we often underestimate the cost of compromising what we know, deep down, is the right thing to do.

This episode is a siren call to the highest angels of your nature, guiding you in cleaning up any fractures to your integrity, in your relationships and in your life. If you want to move forward lighter, more rooted to your deepest values and guided by your True North, listen up then lean in to level up how you’re running your life. Doing so will spare you a considerable amount of mess down the track.

Stanley McChrystal spent his military career navigating the real and deadly risks of combat, finishing a four-star General in Afghanistan overseeing 147,000 soldiers. He has walked the path of courage in ways most of us never will, concluding that the greatest source of risk lays in us - in how we identify, assess, respond and learn from risk.

We cover a lot of ground in our conversation – from the need for more moral courage in leaders today to raising resilient kids.

If you want to navigate risk better and lead smarter, this episode is for you.

EPISODE LINKS:

RISK: A User's Guide

The McChrystal Group

Watch our full conversation on YouTube