Do one thing every day that scares you
If you want to learn and grow and improve, these eight words from 70 years ago deserve your immediate attention:
Do one thing every day that scares you.
When she became the First Lady of the United States in 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt could have followed the precedent of all previous First Ladies. She could have stayed in the shadow of her husband, obeying the unwritten rule that the president’s wife should be seen and not heard.
But Eleanor Roosevelt followed her own eight words of advice: Do one thing every day that scares you. She rewrote the rules, stepping forward and taking action from day one.
Instead of sitting in her fancy house, she packed her bags and headed to just about everywhere: schools, factories, coal mines, farms, overseas villages, impoverished neighborhoods, and elsewhere.
She worked long hours, conducting 348 press conferences during her husband’s 12 years in office. She wrote a daily newspaper column and various magazine articles to put issues like civil rights and women’s rights into the national spotlight. And when her husband died in 1945, she kept going, becoming a delegate at the first meeting of the United Nations.
Eleanor Roosevelt may seem like a remote figure far back in history, but her advice and example relate to the here and now. Those eight words — do one thing every day that scares you — should shake us all up in a good way.
- Do you question the routine at work and elsewhere, or do you follow it without thinking?
- Do you reach out to new people at work and beyond, or do you stick with the same crowd?
- Do you ask questions to start new dialogue, or do you replay the same conversations?
- Do you leap out of your comfort zone at least some of the time, or do you play it safe all of the time?
Does it all sound too daunting? Then consider these other words from Eleanor Roosevelt: With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.
I have been a long time admirer of Eleanor Roosevelt she demonstrated unbelievable courage in staying true to her beliefs and who she was as a person. She changed the role of “First Lady” they must now be involved in a cause and have a purpose they can no longer sit on the sideline as an observer.
May her spirit live on…..
I am a fan of Eleanor Roosevelt. She was her husband’s legs.
Although financially wealthy, Eleanor led a difficult life. Her mother-in-law was controlling and critical. Then, as First Lady, the pubic condemned her for not “staying in her place.”
She was courageous and inspires me.