Brave

When was the last time fear stopped you from doing something that mattered? Perhaps you held back from speaking up, making a change, or chasing a dream because of self-doubt. In Brave: 50 Everyday Acts of Courage to Thrive in Work, Love and Life, author Margie Warrell invites you to reframe fear not as an obstacle but as an initiation into growth. She argues that living fully is synonymous with living bravely—acting with courage even when uncertainty, vulnerability, or discomfort looms large.

Warrell contends that most people mistakenly believe bravery is reserved for heroes—those who face tanks or fight wars—but in reality, courage is demonstrated in everyday moments: speaking honestly, taking a career risk, or asking for help. Her book dissects the many forms of personal courage and offers practical guidance to build what she calls our “courage muscle.” Courage, she explains, is not innate; it’s a habit that grows stronger when exercised daily.

The Value of Bravery in an Age of Fear

We live in what Warrell calls a “culture of fear”—one that sells security and conformity in exchange for authenticity and growth. Influenced by media and social pressures, we often choose safety over significance. As she observes, too many of us spend more time planning vacations than envisioning the lives we truly want to live. Her message is clear: playing safe doesn’t make us more secure—it makes us smaller. Fear thrives when left unexamined, and the antidote is intentional action aligned with purpose and values.

Bravery Is Practical, Not Heroic

The book is structured as 50 short chapters divided into five parts: Live Purposefully, Speak Bravely, Work Passionately, Dig Deep, and Dare Boldly. Each section tackles a different facet of courage—from building self-trust to breaking rules—and ends with a “Train the Brave” challenge to move readers from thinking to doing. Warrell draws from global adventures (including living in Papua New Guinea and confronting armed robbery), personal heartbreaks, leadership coaching, and lessons learned from figures like Malala Yousafzai and Nelson Mandela. Her tone is conversational yet rigorous, blending narrative, psychology, and actionable reflection.

Fear, Intuition, and Choice

Central to Warrell’s message is that courage doesn’t mean fearlessness—it means taking action despite fear. By facing fear head-on, we diminish its power and amplify our own. She parallels the findings of researchers like Brené Brown (Daring Greatly) who argue that vulnerability is not weakness but the birthplace of authenticity and connection. She writes that fear operates through imagination—most of the troubles we anticipate never happen—and encourages readers to make peace with fear by naming it, feeling it, and acting anyway. In her words: “What you think you fear isn’t what holds power over you; it’s your fear of how you’ll feel if the worst happens.”

Why This Book Matters

Warrell’s framework of training the brave matters because courage shapes every other virtue: confidence, integrity, resilience, and purpose. Without bravery, fear dictates your choices and shrinks your world to fit your comfort zone. Whether you’re deciding to change careers, speak up in a difficult meeting, end an unhealthy relationship, or forgive someone who hurt you, the same principle applies—action precedes confidence. Courage is the first step toward a life by design rather than by default.

Throughout the book, Warrell challenges you to ask powerful questions: What do you stand for? What fears are holding you hostage? What values define your highest intention? Each answer reconnects you to agency, reminding you that bravery doesn’t guarantee success, but it always precedes it. As Edmund Hillary’s preparation for Everest taught her, you build courage by scaling smaller peaks first. Step by step, you create new neural pathways of boldness until bravery becomes second nature.

A Call to Live and Lead with Heart

Ultimately, Warrell’s book is both a manifesto and a manual for courageous living. It redefines bravery as a lifestyle: speaking truthfully, loving openly, failing forward, forgiving freely, and acting intentionally. You won’t find lofty philosophy or a ten-step academic model here; instead, you’ll find relatable stories, practical tools, and heartfelt encouragement to “train your brave.” And by doing so, Warrell insists, you not only transform your own life—you give others permission to do the same. Courage is contagious; when one person lives boldly, others follow.

Key takeaway: Living bravely isn’t about being extraordinary—it’s about making ordinary decisions with extraordinary intention. As Warrell writes, growth and comfort never ride the same horse. To live fully, you must risk discomfort. And to live bravely, you must act with courage—not someday, but today.

Margie Warrell begins her journey of courage with a simple yet profound premise: Bravery starts with purpose. Without knowing what you stand for, fear and conformity can easily pull you off course. She opens with the powerful image of the Tiananmen Square protester standing before a tank—an extreme act of moral conviction that invites every reader to reflect: What would I stand for if comfort were stripped away?

Clarity Fuels Courage

Warrell argues that courage rooted in clear values will endure any external storm. When people lack a sense of purpose, they fall into what she calls “comfortable mediocrity”—life on autopilot, dominated by routines and fear of social judgment. She reflects on leaders like Julia Gillard, who once told her that changing the world requires “a sense of purpose, the courage to pursue it and the preparedness to risk failure.” This clarity not only anchors brave choices but also liberates you from needing validation.

From Passive Spectator to Active Author

Warrell’s central message echoes Viktor Frankl’s insight in Man’s Search for Meaning: meaning drives resilience. She encourages readers to see themselves as authors, not spectators, of their lives. Each time you make a stand—whether for fairness at work, honesty in a relationship, or justice in the world—you rewrite your narrative from passive to purposeful. Courage, then, is not born in extremes but cultivated in everyday integrity: honoring your truth even when approval wavers.

Purpose as a Compass

Knowing what you stand for means defining what you value most: freedom, compassion, creativity, service. These aren’t abstract ideals—they’re personal compasses guiding tough decisions. Warrell invites a practical reflection: write down what you want your life to stand for. Like Gandhi’s “My life is my message,” this exercise converts courage into commitment. Once defined, your values become grounding points to face fear without losing direction.

Key takeaway: Bravery isn’t about defying tanks—it’s about aligning choices with values even when no one’s watching. When you know what your life stands for, fear loses leverage, and your courage finds purpose.

Fear is not the enemy—it’s the invitation. Warrell demonstrates this truth through the story of her son Ben’s skydiving adventure and the broader metaphor of stepping out of an airplane into life’s uncertainty. She writes, “Nothing can rob our freedom more quickly than fear.” Her experience watching him jump—and her own battle with anxiety—reveals fear’s paradox: it protects us, but it can also imprison us.

Understanding Fear’s Trick

Most people suffer more from imagination than reality. Echoing Mark Twain’s quip, Warrell reminds us that most of the troubles we dread never happen. Fear thrives on projection: we’re rarely afraid of the dark itself, but of what might lurk within it. Likewise, many fear commitment, not people, but potential heartbreak. By recognizing that fear’s power lies in emotional anticipation rather than fact, you can begin to dissolve its grip.

Acknowledgment Dilutes Power

She encourages readers to name fears explicitly: “When you acknowledge your fears, you dilute their strength.” Avoiding fear feeds it; facing it frees you. Action becomes the antidote. Each courageous choice—asking the question, taking the leap—builds self-trust and fortifies what she calls “courage muscles.” Fear shrinks in proportion to the steps you take through it.

Acting Despite Fear

Warrell aligns with Susan Jeffers’ classic Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway: courage is movement through fear, not absence of it. She advises that when anxiety surfaces, ask, “What would I do if I weren’t afraid?” and then act on that answer. Whether starting a business, mending a relationship, or confronting conflict, progress requires stepping through fear—not around it.

Key takeaway: Fear has a large shadow but is small itself. When you act despite fear, you don’t erase it—you outgrow it. Each brave act expands freedom and reinforces your faith in yourself.

One of Warrell’s defining lessons is that courage must be directed intentionally. Bravery alone, she warns, is not enough—it must serve a vision. Her story of moving with her husband to Papua New Guinea against her glamorous expectations (London! New York!) reveals how deliberate intention transforms setbacks into growth. She writes, “Bravery alone must be channeled toward a bigger vision.”

The Power of Intention

Too many people design their vacations more carefully than their lives. Warrell urges readers to clarify what they truly want—a compass for decisions, relationships, and opportunities. Living by design means asking: What fills my cup? What kind of family, work, and community do I want to cultivate? Without this clarity, our lives drift, “like a ship adrift at sea, at the mercy of tides.” Intentional living reclaims authorship of that ship.

Slow Down to Get Clear

“You can’t live intentionally if you’re forever living hurriedly.” Warrell invites readers to stop multitasking and reconnect with being over doing. Slowing down renews perspective and courage, helping you say no to distractions and yes to meaningful pursuits. She proposes practical questions for intention-setting in key arenas—family, work, health, wealth, community—and encourages readers to clarify their highest intention in each.

Resilience Through Vision

Life’s trials—like her miscarriages and a gunpoint robbery—tested Warrell’s philosophy. Yet she found that vision doesn’t shield you from hardship; it steadies you through it. Living intentionally enables faster recovery, deeper gratitude, and renewed purpose. Every brave intention, she writes, “sets energy into motion.”

Key takeaway: You can start living intentionally right now. Take five minutes to make peace with your past and clarify your highest intentions. In doing so, you move from living by default to living by design.

Few acts demand as much courage as speaking the truth in a world that prefers silence. Through stories like Malala Yousafzai’s defiance of the Taliban and her own work with military leaders, Warrell illustrates that conversational courage is vital for relationships, leadership, and self-respect.

The Cost of Silence

Fear of confrontation or rejection silences truth. Warrell writes that people focus more on the immediate discomfort of speaking up than the long-term cost of silence—broken relationships, lost opportunities, and a shrinking sense of self. Echoing Tacitus and Shakespeare, she reminds readers that safety often stands against noble endeavors. Courageous conversation means valuing truth over approval.

Seven Keys to Courageous Conversations

• Start with heart and clear intention.
• Find common ground—shared values and mutual goals.
• Express opinions as just that, not as objective truth.
• Distinguish people from their behavior.
• Act big when others act small—stay calm and kind.
• Be mindful of body language.
• Focus forward on solutions, not blame.

These principles echo communication frameworks from Daniel Goleman and Stephen Covey: empathy precedes influence. Courageous dialogue builds trust and prevents hidden resentment from “being acted out” through passive aggression or withdrawal.

Speaking Before You Feel Ready

Warrell insists you don’t need to ooze confidence before speaking brave truth. Confidence follows action. She writes, “All things are difficult before they are easy.” By practising uncomfortable conversations—whether at home or at work—you build both skill and courage.

Key takeaway: Silence solves nothing. What isn’t talked out gets acted out. Speak bravely from the heart, with respect and clarity. Your words have the power to heal, lead, and transform.

Warrell explores how resilience intertwines with courage. Through harrowing experiences—armed robbery, miscarriage, and family tragedy—she reveals how adversity deepens strength rather than depleting it when met with intention and gratitude.

Resilience as Daily Practice

Resilience isn’t what you have; it’s what you do. Small daily habits—exercise, journaling, prayer, laughter, rest—become tune-ups for the soul. She quotes Lincoln: “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe.” Similarly, she urges taking time to rest and recharge; burnout comes not from intensity but from duration without renewal.

Pain as Teacher

In chapters on grief and forgiveness, Warrell recounts losing her brother Peter to suicide and her brother Frank adapting to paraplegia. Through these stories, she teaches that suffering reveals strength and compassion: “Getting present to the sadness that pulls at your heart is both an act of courage and self-love.” These moments mirror Viktor Frankl’s idea that meaning can transform suffering into endurance.

The Alchemy of Gratitude

Her father’s wisdom—“I feel like the richest man in the world”—anchors the book’s spiritual core. Gratitude amplifies joy and reduces the size of problems. It shifts perspective from scarcity to abundance, grounding bravery in appreciation for life itself.

Key takeaway: Resilience and gratitude are fuel for courage. When life breaks you open, it doesn’t destroy you—it enlarges your capacity for compassion and joy.

Warrell concludes the book with a rallying cry: Dare boldly. Caution may feel safe, but it’s the riskiest strategy of all. Through stories like Justine Flynn’s Thankyou Water initiative and the reflections of the dying (in Bronnie Ware’s The Five Regrets of the Dying), she shows that the deepest regret isn’t failure—it’s not trying.

Risk Regret More Than Failure

At life’s end, people don’t regret their risks—they regret their caution. Every dream demands stepping into uncertainty, yet even “failure” yields discovery and strength. Warrell recounts her own fears of rejection when sending her first book manuscript to publishers—and how persistence through dozens of refusals led to success. As she puts it, “Rejection never hurts for as long as regret.”

Rebellion and Imperfection

Courage also means breaking outdated rules and rejecting perfectionism. She celebrates Rosa Parks for defying unjust norms and reminds readers that perfectionism confines people “to a life of immaculate mediocrity.” Done is better than perfect. Progress is better than paralysis.

Start Small, Begin Now

Her final challenge mirrors the essence of bravery: think big, start small, begin today. Every great accomplishment—from books to businesses—comes from “a thousand small brave steps.” Courage lives in the doing, not the waiting. She writes, “Action is the most powerful antidote to fear.”

Key takeaway: You don’t need perfect timing or confidence—just the decision to begin. Fear will fade as motion builds. In the end, bravery is not a single act—it’s how you live every day.