Live Brave, #bravehavior, is my mantra for the year. Just saying the words, “live brave,” seems to increase my inner-strength muscles. When I say those words, I’m speaking to my lizard brain. I’ve named mine Godzilla. Seth Godin describes the ancient part of the brain as “The Lizard Brain.” Seth Godin is a well-known author, speaker, and businessman who explains this in detail on his blog, in his books, and online. Seth is talking about the Amygdala part of the brain whose primary function is to make sure we stay alive and reproduce. It responds to the information it takes in and tries to stop us from doing or saying things that might hurt us in some way. When the lizard is trying to do its job, it feels like Godzilla stomping the ground and breathing fire until I shrink back down into submission.

I have three primary triggers that awaken the giant lizard and kindle his flames, the fear of not being liked, the fear of making a mistake, and the fear of success (success equals change, and that is scary). I’m trying to train Godzilla to respond to the words, “live brave” like you teach a dog to sit. When he hears those two words, he needs to take a seat and trust that I’m going to be okay. (He can stand back up if I get on an elevator and a weirdo gets on with me, then he can set loose the flamethrower to yell “get off the elevator quickly.”) Training my lizard brain is going to take fortitude and patience. I’m getting my shield up, my battle boots on, and I’m packing a purse full of compassion ladened bandages to cover the wounds along the way.

Live brave sounds so simple. Living comes pretty naturally, and Godzilla is all over keeping that thing going. Being brave sounds counter-intuitive to Godzilla though, he is all “Don’t go there. Don’t touch that. Don’t say that. Are you really wearing that?” But bravery is what has brought us so far as humans, and it is what gives us so much hope for our future. I’m tired of being submissive to a lizard. I want to do more than survive. I want to explore, contribute, celebrate and create every day. I want to extend my reach an be a difference maker for my tribe.

I’m putting the lizard on a leash and asking him to sit, heel, and walk beside me. He will be close by if I need him, but he won’t run free to scorch the possibilities, desires, and encounters, of a braver life.