What does the word ‘bold’ mean to you? It’s not a popular word as such, but it’s been growing on me for a few months now. 

At least in part, this is due to the fact that Wildfire evolved some of its messaging recently which includes the word ‘bold’, which got me thinking… What can I do in order to become bolder myself? 

With poor societal mental health, reduced trust and political, environmental and economic fears filling news and social media feeds, I think that communication has a big part to play in encouraging boldness in individuals and ultimately, in brands. 

Simple but not easy

Don’t get me wrong, as someone that has struggled for many years with high levels of anxiety and a fairly debilitating ‘I’m not good enough’ complex, being bold isn’t exactly high on my personal skillset. 

However, being a big believer in the idea that you’ll move towards whatever you focus on, I’m thinking that it may well be time to change the conversation – starting with the conversation we have with ourselves. 

My hypnotherapist tells me that things only exist in our imagination. If you think of a blue elephant, then the blue elephant exists – even if it is only in your mind. I quite like the idea of a blue elephant as it happens, but if you’re manifesting negative thoughts – how do you ‘switch them off’? 

The key lies in ‘resetting’ negative thought patterns by displacing them with positive ones.

Hypnotherapy helps me with this process, but I’ll also be taking advantage of the coaching being provided to the Wildfire team by our new friends at Sanctus. Sanctus is an organisation that focuses on positive mental health and I’m hoping that, with their help – I can find my inner bold as part of developing my mental fitness! 

Being human 

Within the communications sector as a whole, there is a lot of talk about brand humanity and how brands should communicate like human beings in order to be more successful. Having looked at various sources on the topic of being bold – there’s a lot of common ground. 

As it turns out, the benefits of being bold largely appear to be increasing an individual’s ability to be ‘more like their true selves’, i.e. human.

What tends to hold us back from being bold are all the things that popular media insists on writing about repeatedly; negativity, self-doubt, wanting (needing!) to be popular, etc. Essentially – fear. 

Trust your gut…

As an individual, or on behalf of your brand – the best advice I’ve found for becoming bolder is a combination of trusting your gut, doing SOMETHING rather than nothing, and to realise that (unless your choice could be fatal) there is almost always a way back if it turns out that your decision or course of action was less favorable than anticipated. 

There is no doubt that in all walks of life, in order to be bolder, fear must be pushed aside. That’s tough going, but if it means humanity improves as a result, it’s got to be worth a try, one person and one brand at a time, right?

…and your head

From Wildfire’s perspective, we’d always advise a ‘think first’ approach to being bold. By putting in the hard work up front and covering off the ‘thinking’ part of the equation, it lowers the risk of any resulting ‘boldness’ being offbeat. 

Whether thinking about individuals or brands, being bold doesn’t mean being impulsive. It’s about trying to experience life more fearlessly and in doing so, becoming your best self.