Stay Radically Courageous

Every Guy & Beau TEE shipment is sealed with a t-shift silhouette sticker that reads: Stay Radically Courageous.

A message for the iconoclasts of the world.

Our hope is that this three word message arrives at the moment you need it most, that it strikes a chord, that it feels like synchronicity banging on your doorstep. And most importantly that you recognize it as a message from the gods not to be dismissed as mere coincidence. But I must be truthfully raw with you: the message is for us. A bold reminder that in the midst of the doing, in the throes of creating, in the madness and uncertainty of business, that preparation and readiness are not the same. A reminder to always take chances in life, no matter how unprepared we may feel; be it a chance on love or a business idea. You never know what magic may come of a yes.

Guy & Beau TEE’s message for all of the dreamers, creators, the movers & shakers in the world. 

I am currently reading What To Do When It’s Your Turn (and it’s always your turn) by Seth Godin (thanks to Guy for the recommendation). It is a book for the soul of the status-quo disruptor; a coffee table must-have. Not intended to be read page for page in one sitting, although you could. It’s more of a read-a-page-or-two and let it simmer. It’s a picture-filled book with neatly bound swift kicks in the ass for the dreamers of the world. Being a dreamer comes with its fair share of imposter syndrome. But we have figured out the antibody to that ubiquitous antigen. No matter how familiar imposter syndrome feels, we must label it a foreign substance that has no place in the highly-creative, utterly-brilliant, ever-resilient human body.

In the book Seth writes:

We are unprepared to do something for the first time, always. 

We are unprepared to create a new kind of beauty, to connect with another human being in a way that we’ve never connected before.

We are unprepared for our first best seller or for a massive failure unlike any we’ve ever seen before. We are unprepared to fall in love and to be loved. 

We are unprepared for the reaction when we surprise and delight someone, and we are always unprepared of the next breakthrough.

I agree with Seth, but it comes with one caveat — Preparation isn’t overrated. In fact, it is necessary. It keeps you in the work. Readiness, on the other hand, is. Will you ever be ready to fall in love? Or buy the cabin in the mountains? Or publish that book? Or move abroad? I’m guessing ‘no’. Readiness is funny like that. The beauty of doing even when we aren’t ready, is that any doing of any kind is preparation in and of itself. But paralysis analysis is the #1 killer of people’s dreams. And the drug of choice is Imposter Syndrome.

Here’s a funny story. I signed up for my first (and only) pickleball tournament. An apology in advance to anyone who doesn’t play pickleball and is annoyed by people who do. Stay with me. There is a lesson for you too. The tournament took place in a breathtaking members-only club nestled in the mountains of North Carolina. I had been playing for 2+ years or so. For all of you resistors, it’s a lot of fun with a really fun social aspect to it. Unbeknownst to many of my favorite players at Donner Park (one of the greatest places to play pickleball in NE Florida), they prepared me for an opportunity of a lifetime. You see, a pro player (5.0+) with a BIG personality asked if I’d be his partner for the tournament. His partner injured herself and had to withdraw. Feeling unprepared, inadequate, and definitely not ready, I said yes. Enthusiastically I may add. The truth is, imposter syndrome kicked in as fast as I uttered yes. A chorus of “I have no business playing with these high level players” and “you are going to embarrass the shit out of yourself” began to sing in my head. Sopranos and altos competing for nails-on-a-chalkboard pitch and out-of-sync rhythm. I have been here before. Not on a pickleball court, per se. But in life. I say yes. I say yes often. Scared. Unprepared. Not fully ready. And what I have gotten in return is: Experience. Magic. Radical Courage. Bigger cojones.

To finish the story — I had a blast with Rich5.0. He stepped on my foot and I fell on my ass. He screamed and hollered and took up 90% of the court. It was his show. The crowd loved & hated him. I would do it again for the first time. I made a new friend who is as passionate about the sport as I am about business. Yes, I probably had no business playing with these higher level players but I didn’t care. What I cared most about was being given an opportunity that will more likely never come again. I am a better player because I said yes. I am more fearless in my life. There is magic in saying yes. And it’s cloaked in fear. Remember that.

One of my all-time favorite quotes is by Les Brown — “The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step.”

Imposter syndrome is a disease. Radical courage is the momentary cure. Do it scared. Do it unprepared. Do it again and again and again. You’ll regret saying yes and you’ll regret not saying yes. But one will make the graveyard richer and one might make you believe in magic.