Main Page

How to Be Brave

I'm Tracy Carlson. Let me tell you something about bravery that took me twenty years in corporate America to learn.

I spent most of my career being afraid. Afraid to speak up in meetings. Afraid to set boundaries with my boss. Afraid to admit when I didn't know something. Afraid to ask for what I was worth. I smiled when I should have objected. I stayed late when I should have gone home. I said yes when I should have said no.

And you know what? It didn't protect me. It just made me smaller.

The turning point came at forty-two. I was passed over for a promotion—again—in favor of someone less qualified but more visible. That night, I sat in my car in the parking garage and decided: either I start being brave, or I leave.

I stayed. And I started saying the things I'd been swallowing for decades.

This wiki is what I've learned since then. Not about dramatic courage—not about running into burning buildings or standing up to dictators. About the everyday kind. The kind that happens in conference rooms and living rooms. The kind where you say "actually, no" and mean it.

Where to Start

If you're afraid right now:

• Fear Is Information — It's telling you something. Listen.
• The Cost of Staying Silent — Calculate what you're paying.
• Small Brave Steps — You don't have to leap. Walk.

If you need to speak up:

• Speaking Truth to Power — How to do it and survive.
• When No One Wants to Hear It — They often don't. Say it anyway.
• The Art of Professional Honesty — Candor without career suicide.

If you need to set boundaries:

• Boundaries At Work — They're not optional.
• The No That Saves You — Some yeses are too expensive.
• When They Push Back — They will. Here's what to do.

If you want to understand courage:

• Bravery Versus Recklessness — There's a difference.
• The Courage To Be Disliked — Sometimes necessary.
• Why Being Brave Is Exhausting — And how to manage that.

A Note on This Wiki

I'm not going to pretend bravery is easy. It isn't. I still get nervous before difficult conversations. I still sometimes wish I could just go along to get along.

But I've learned that the fear never fully goes away—you just get better at acting anyway. And the more you do it, the more you realize: most of what you were afraid of never happens. And even when it does, you survive.

I write for the people who are tired of being small. Who know they're capable of more but can't seem to get there. Who need someone to say: yes, it's scary, and yes, you should do it anyway.

That's what this wiki is. Permission to be braver than you've been.

Explore

• Index — All articles on this wiki
• Sister_Wikis — Our family of wikis

— Tracy Carlson, saying the thing since 2018