First things first: the index isn’t saying that you believe you’re a victim. 

Rather, your responses indicate that you tend to believe that you have a strong sense of vision and optimism about what’s possible. However, you also indicated that you sometimes feel like you don’t have the ability to influence outcomes in favor of your vision. This means that you sometimes feel like you don’t have a clear opportunity or path to pursue your vision, or that you’re powerless to do so.

Bravery is more likely to occur when you believe in a better possible future, and you believe you have the capacity to bring it about. Put differently, there are two conditions that are likely to lead to brave action: Perceived Agency, and Optimistic Vision. 

Perceived Agency means that you have confidence that you can leverage your proficiency, your platform, and your relational network to pursue your ideas and vision. You have confidence in the face of uncertainty because you trust that you have the ability to shape outcomes.

Optimistic Vision means that you are driven by values, ideals, or goals that you are willing to pursue even if it costs you something. You take risks, do the hard thing, and are willing to sacrifice comfort in the pursuit of what you believe to be right.

Your Brave Index score shows that you have Low Perceived Agency, meaning that you aren’t confident in your ability to bring about change. It also reveals that you have High Optimism, or belief that a better future is possible. However, while that future vision is clear to you, you aren’t certain of what you can do to bring it about. Please note that these are not static traits and may simply be indicative of your current situation.

If you find at any point that you are wrestling with taking brave action on something important, you can ask:

• Where is my vision for this project / relationship / task less than clear?
• How does this relate to something I value or care deeply about?
• What matters so deeply to me that I’m willing to pursue it, even if it costs me? In The Brave Habit, this is called Productive Passion.

By developing your sense of agency and your vision of a better future, you create a fertile field within which brave action is more likely to occur. Learn more about developing each of these capacities in chapters three and four of The Brave Habit.

We also have a custom, team-based version of The Brave Index. Contact us to learn more.