Stepping Into the Arena: The Truth About "Safe" Risks

Stepping Into the Arena: The Truth About "Safe" Risks

I listened to Brené Brown’s The Call to Courage again today, and it hit me harder than ever before. She talks about the famous Teddy Roosevelt quote, "The Man in the Arena," and suddenly, everything about why I started Thriving Daily clicked into place.

For a long time, I wasn't in the arena. I was in the stands. Or at least, I was only stepping into the parts of the arena where I knew the floor was padded.

I used to tell myself I was a risk-taker. In my corporate life as "Pressure Cooker Paula," I took on the hardest projects. I navigated complex financial systems across three countries. I tackled the chaos everyone else avoided. From the outside, it looked like bravery.

But today, I realised the truth: I was only taking risks in areas where I knew I couldn't truly fail.

I operated in zones of such high competence that I knew, deep down, even if things didn't go to plan, my "failure" would still deliver better results than most of my peers' successes.

That wasn't courage. That was insurance.

It was a way to perform, strive, and achieve without ever risking the one thing I was terrified of losing: my identity as the one who always delivers.

I was playing a game I knew I could win.

But there is a difference between winning and thriving. The Roosevelt quote stripped that safety net away for me:

"It is not the critic who counts... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood... 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."

Reading that, I realised I didn't want to get to the end of my life with a pristine record of "safe wins." I wanted the dust. I wanted the sweat. I wanted the vulnerability of doing something where I didn't know the outcome, but I did it anyway because my soul demanded it.

Thriving Daily was born from that decision.

Stepping into this new role, as a coach and strategist, is the first time I have truly stepped into the arena without my old armour. I can’t hide behind a spreadsheet or a process here. It is just me, my intuition, and the connection with another human being.

I still feel the fear. But now, I know that fear isn't a sign to stop. It's a sign that I am finally playing for something that matters more than validation.

I founded this business to help others make that same shift—not a massive, terrifying leap into the dark, but a tiny shift in perspective, every day. The shift from surviving behind a shield of competence to thriving in the beautiful uncertainty of your true purpose.

So, this is my invitation to you: Where are you playing safe? Where are you taking "risks" that aren't really risks at all, because you’ve already calculated the outcome?

Come join me in the real arena. It’s messier here, yes. But the view is spectacular, and the feeling? It’s pure, unadulterated freedom.

Understanding the arena is the first step. Entering it is the second.

You don't need more inspiration; you need a strategy to make the leap. Every Tuesday, I send The Sweet Spot - it contains a 5-minute action to help you stop playing safe and start designing a life that feels good AND works.