How to Live Inside The Arena of Life

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• The first time I heard the famous speech by Teddy Roosevelt, The Man In The Arena, I was a young teenager. It struck me the first time I heard it, but it took me years to truly execute it in my own life. Now, I have this speech hanging on my wall as a reminder.

• To live in the the Arena of Life takes courage, getting out of our own head, and a willingness to live in spite of failure—not avoidance of failure.

• This article covers why I think it's far more dangerous to avoid the arena of life than to risk the downsides of playing all out, pursuing what keeps calling, and living your best life.

Here's a scenario that might feel all too familiar:

You have a vision for something you'd like to pursue outside your comfort zone, and you're struck with this thought: "I can't do that. I'm not as talented as people who accomplish that." Your mind immediately starts making a list of why you can't achieve something.

Perhaps you tell yourself, "That would be so cool. Maybe someday." Not dismissing the possibility, leaving a sliver of hope, but not overriding the voice telling yourself you're incapable of such feats.

If you've experienced some scenario like this, no worries, you're not alone.

We've all been there. More importantly, anyone who's ever accomplished anything has been there.

In today's piece, I'd like to share a powerful quote that has helped me with this: The Man In The Arena.

What Is The Arena?

I first read the famous excerpt from a speech by President Theodore Roosevelt, The Man In The Arena, many years ago while in High School. However, any ability to execute this in my life was a gradual process, not an overnight entrance.

The idea behind The Man In The Arena is simple:

Be willing to pursue your greatness, even in failure, and don't allow the critics to get you down or hold you back. In the end, it's your bravery to pursue something that matters.

An example of this might look like this:

• You want to become a (writer, artist, doctor, lawyer, etc.) but don't believe you have the natural talent to succeed.

• You have an idea for a business you'd like to start, but you never feel like it's the right time, conditions are perfect, or your idea is good enough to succeed.

• You deeply desire to find the love of your life so you can experience the same feelings you admire, perhaps even envy in others, but are waiting for the perfect time—which will never arrive.

• You have a vision for how you want to live your life, but compared to the rest of the world, it seems unconventional and unattainable. So you settle, like many who came before you—and ignore your gut.

Roosevelt would conclude that if we fail to enter the arena, we are "cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

The Man In The Arena is a helpful reminder that we can't allow fear or critics or shame or failure to prevent us from stepping off the sidelines and pursuing our highest notions.

Why You Must Enter

Don't underestimate how much chatter in your head prevents you from pursuing things in life.

If we aren't careful, we will allow our life, work, and vision for our future to be completely stolen from us by the little voice telling us, "we can't." It's easier to live outside the arena and never put ourselves at risk.

But the risk of not stepping inside the arena is far more consequential, in my opinion:

• Failure to Launch: Telling yourself you can't lose, fail, or get hurt if you stay on the sidelines is flawed thinking. Sure, it's much harder for those outcomes to occur. Still, the upside you're missing out on, the assumptions you're making, and the fragility in which you live your life will ultimately be far more painful in the future than saving yourself from a bit of heartache.

• Dissatisfaction: Even when you decide to play life safe and stay in the comfort of the sidelines, dissatisfaction will unpleasantly gnaw at you. That's not unhappiness. It's a call from within to get moving and do something about it. And I can tell you this from experience: this is more unpleasant than failing while inside the arena.

• Regret: If you think dissatisfaction or failure is tough, imagine regret. If you believe, for a second, that failing to take action on something will create regret in your future, you better get moving. Regret always stings but grows more painful over the years.

I suppose that I should point out that some goals in life are far more challenging or complicated than others. This strategy is not foolproof and will probably not vault you to the moon as an astronaut with no training or help you become the next centerfielder of the St. Louis Cardinals at age 40 (I'd try if I thought it would work).

But the internet has changed so many things. And one, in particular, is that it removes many of the gatekeepers once holding people back, especially, but not limited, in entrepreneurship, creative work, and lifestyle design.

But stepping inside the arena doesn't have to be a bold move on the world stage. It's your bold move—the one outside your comfort.

Still, having the boldness to pursue something takes courage. I suspect someone reading this right now is saying to themselves, "yeah, but I just can't…" Fair enough. I get it.

But even if you're confident that the thing calling you to the arena is too much of a long shot, I would highly encourage you to consider changing your view of challenges of any kind in your life moving forward.

How To Step Inside The Arena

While everyone's battle with their entrance into the arena will feel different, there are some consistent strategies to take into your struggle.

Consider these three strategies the next time your call to enter the arena is met with resistance:

1. Let Go of Your Ego: You may not be a self-absorbed, selfish jerk, but that doesn't mean you don't have an ego. We all have one. And many are just too much in their heads about their role or importance or significance in the world. Truth: it's unlikely that much of what we will accomplish will be remembered in 100 years. So go for it! What do you have to lose?

2. Embrace the Hard: When you pursue something difficult, it will never be easy. No amount of planning, learning, strategizing, or perfect timing will change this. Embrace the suck of any endeavor, and you'll meet it with far more strength than if you try and avoid this.

3. Let Go of Perfection: You won't be perfect. It's impossible. Your job is to make progress through a process. Be willing to fail, make mistakes, and learn from those. It's the only path inside the arena.

In a perfect world, we would pursue things, even outside our comfort zone, with the confidence to excel in our endeavors. But, you know it's not a perfect world.

One of the most difficult challenges for many is overcoming the obstacle within our two ears. Whether it's a natural lack of confidence or previous failures or a slow beat down from the world, many, too many, don't give themselves enough credit.

The battle, and it is a battle, to be willing to pursue a life in the arena is not one to be taken lightly. It's also not worth delaying, ignoring, or wasting precious time in your life avoiding it.

Take it from me, life keeps moving, and if you aren't careful, a decade will pass without you ever mustered up the courage to compete in the arena.

Don't let internal and external critics prevent you from becoming something special. Whatever you have inside that you feel calling, go for it.

Embrace the hard. Be willing to fail. Don't look back.

Final Thoughts

The Man In The Arena has influenced my life and pushed me in an impactful way. I highly encourage you to check this speech out.

Learning to embrace and cultivate the courage within to compete in the arena of life is worth it.

Where in your life are you missing the call to show up to the arena?

I'd love to hear from you:

Tweet at me @ChaseAHappyLife or just respond to this email and I'll do my best to get back to everyone!

Until next time…keep pursuing your Happy Quiet Life!

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