You’ve Got This! by Margie Warrell
“Take the leap; your wings are stronger than you know. Work worth doing is waiting.”
3 Main Messages:
Don’t allow your fear to limit your life’s possibilities
“You don’t have to be infallible to be fabulous” so accept that it won’t be perfect and take the first step
Success comes when we have daily habits and regular rituals and when we plan, collaborate and communicate with others.
What are the defining acts that make us considered to be daring, growing and brave? Does buying a one way ticket to Australia to live there indefinitely count? What about buying a house in London on your own? Backpacking solo around South East Asia? Leaving the formal education system and starting your own business?
There are many deliberate decisions we can make that would be considered brave by most people’s standards and I have done all of the above, which, in hindsight have been the best decisions I have made and have helped me to grow my friendship circle, confidence and life experience enormously. It is the latter example, however, which is still in the early stages, which fills me with fear. A good reason then, to eventually read Margie Warrell’s book about bravery.
I met Margie at a house party in Singapore a number of years ago and was impressed by how interested and interesting she was. She could tell a story and hold the room but she chit-chatted with humour and humility. I liked her straight away. I remember thinking that I would love to be more like her. Ironically, in this book, Margie tells us to “Be the kind of person you want to hang out with and hang out with the kind of people you’d like to be.”
I’ll admit that I’m a little wary of ‘self help’ books and find that they can be patronising and idealistic, but was pleased to find this book different. I love Margie’s tone and style: she writes with lots of humour and honesty, sharing relevant anecdotes and deeply personal stories, quoting friends and a range of other writers.
The book is split into 3 sections, starting with The Daring: encouraging the reader to take scary steps in order to live a full and exciting life, without regret. She writes about how fear can present itself in different ways, including judgement, justification, procrastination, distraction, pride and shyness, and we are often drawn to sticking with the known versus taking the leap and living fully.
Warrell’s advice is to “begin before you’re ready” because “confidence isn’t built through thinking we’re awesome; it’s built through action.” She argues that waiting for perfection will mean that we’ll never take the first step and so we need to “stop overthinking and start doing it.” I can recall various moments in my life when I have been frozen and scared of the next step, whether that was pressing ‘send’ for a job application or starting a conversation with someone I like - in every example ‘just doing it’ has led to amazing results.
From giving tips and messages around overcoming our fears and our self doubt (which Warrell refers to as Radio DoubtFM) the book moves onto The Growing section where daily habits and regular rituals will lead to success and growing confidence. Warrell advocates daily reflection and being “intentional with your hours” - practices which have been proven to work for centuries since first recorded by the stoics 2000 years ago.
There are separated chapters for men, with advice on opening up and embracing emotions, and women, encouraging courageous and brave-hearted actions and words. I would fully advise reading both, as the messages held within apply to us all: about the way we speak to ourselves and to others and how we need to build our communities for support.
In the final section of the book - The Becoming - Warrell references her own faith in a greater power and encourages the reader to find the people who will lift, support, encourage and motivate them. With continued examples from her own life, Warrell writes about the importance of embracing and learning from difficult times and how our lowest moments often prove to be times of great discovery and growth.
I particularly liked the analogy of a flowering plant that doesn’t bloom. We don’t blame the plant, but instead look at its environment: the pot, the soil, the amount of sun and water it is getting. Similarly in life, we need to be well-fed and nourished, cared for and in the correct environment to grow. We are in control of that.
The book concludes with the You’ve Got This! Manifesto. Similar to the words which Warrell uses to motivate and inspire herself, she provides an uplifting and inspiring message to encourage the reader to get up and be brave. As she so rightly says: “Growth and comfort can’t ride the same horse.” After all, if we want different and better outcomes, then we need to change what we’re putting in. This book will certainly give you the pep talk you need to get started.
