Cut the Rope: The Courage to Bet on Yourself

Today’s Theme: Betting on Yourself

There’s a space that lives between hesitation and action. It’s found in the breath you take right before you leap. Unfortunately, a lot of people spend their lives in this moment second-guessing themselves.

It’s the space where fear and courage meet whereby one tells you to hold on and the other asks you to trust the step.

We convince ourselves that we need a little more proof, a little more certainty, a little more time. But the truth is, progress rarely comes gift-wrapped in guarantees. The future belongs to those willing to test the strength of their own belief, to stand on a platform of doubt and still say, “Let’s see what happens.”

How One Act of Courage Built the Modern World

In 1853, at America’s first World’s Fair, a man named Elisha Otis stood high above the Crystal Palace in New York City.

He wasn’t famous. He wasn’t rich. He was a tinkerer and inventor who believed in an idea that no one else wanted to test. His product, the safety elevator brake, wasn’t selling. People didn’t trust it. And to be fair, it’s hard to find volunteers when the worst-case scenario is falling to your death.

So, Otis came up with a plan. He built a stage. He climbed onto his own elevator platform. And below him, he hired a man with an ax.

Right there, in front of a packed crowd, Otis stood on a platform suspended by a single rope. He gave the signal. The axman swung. The rope snapped. The platform dropped a few feet and then it stopped.

He smiled, turned to the audience and said, “All safe, ladies and gentlemen. All safe.”

The crowd erupted. In that instant, everything changed for Otis. His invention transformed his life from rags to riches and it became the foundation for modern cities. Without Otis, there are no skyscrapers, no skyline views, no elevators making billions of trips each year.

But that’s not what makes the story powerful. What matters isn’t that the elevator worked. It’s that Otis was willing to stand on it.

Cutting the rope was a display of ultimate courage for Otis. It showed the trust he possessed in his work, in himself, and in the possibility that it would hold. It was a man betting on himself when no one else would.

And that’s the part that connects to all of us. Because every time we start something new or take a step into the unknown, we face our own version of that stage.

The hesitation you and I feel before doing our own version of cutting the rope (e.g. launching something new, changing how we lead, starting the next chapter) isn’t because we’re unprepared. It’s because our brains mistake the unfamiliar for danger. Fear uses our Inner Critic to whisper things like, “Stay small, stay safe, stay stuck.”

But fear, when you look closely, isn’t always an enemy. It’s information. It tells us where the stakes are real. It shows us what matters most. It offers a path toward the life you actually want and all of it lives on the other side of that fear.

The Relationship Between Fear and Courage

It’s time to stop thinking of fear and courage as opposites, but more like they’re dance partners. You can’t have one without the other.

Every great leap in human history (e.g. every innovation, every act of leadership, every heroic gesture, every transformation, etc.) began with someone who felt fear and still moved. People who had every reason to hesitate still took a step. They didn’t know how it would turn out, but they knew it mattered enough to try.

If it wasn’t scary, everyone would do it. If it was easy, there wouldn’t be any growth in it.

Fear votes for hesitation. Courage votes for motion.

I’m not suggesting we avoid or ignore fear. Fear is actually a powerful teacher, but we have to be careful because it’s also persuasive. It’ll always give us a reason to wait, to postpone, to shrink. The longer you listen, the louder it becomes.

Courage interrupts that pattern. It says, “What if this feeling isn’t a stop sign, but a signal to keep going?”

And when you follow that signal, even in small ways, something shifts. Others see it. They feel it. Courage spreads. One act of bravery invites another.

Here’s a wonderful example below from the movie, We Bought a Zoo.

Twenty Seconds of Bravery Challenge

Most of us are familiar with the “what if” game. It’s the mental loop we play before making a big move. The problem is we only ever play half of it. We ask, “What if this fails? What if I look foolish? What if it all falls apart?” 

But we rarely ask, “What if this works? What if it all goes exactly the way I hoped?”

Fear only runs the first scenario. Courage reminds you to play both sides.

Courage doesn’t always come from grand gestures. It starts in small, deliberate moments and the kind you can create on your own. Maybe it’s saying the thing you’ve been holding back. Maybe it’s trying something new with your team. Maybe it’s finally going all-in on something you’ve been tiptoeing around. Maybe it’s a small risk you’ve been talking yourself out of.

My encouragement to you all is to find (or better yet, create) your own version of a twenty-second moment of bravery this week. Pick one thing (regardless if it’s big/small) and see what happens.

Because courage grows through use and, sometimes, one short moment of action is all it takes to remind yourself that you’re capable of more than fear wants you to believe.

Final Thoughts

Every performer reaches a moment when belief can no longer stay an internal thought, it has to be tested with action. Courage demands contact, not just thought. You can train, prepare, and visualize, but eventually you have to step into the arena (or onto the platform) and trust that what you’ve built can hold.

Elisha Otis didn’t wait for the world to believe in him. He showed that courage can create its own evidence.

Your moment will look different, but the truth remains: When fear says, “What if I fall?” courage answers, “What if this is the moment I rise?”

Sooner or later, you have to swing the ax. Bet on yourself. Cut the rope.

Inspiration for This Piece

• Batterson, M. (2020). Win the day: 7 daily habits to help you stress less & accomplish more. Multnomah.

• Holiday, R. (2016). Courage is calling: Fortune favours the brave. Profile Books Ltd.

The Threshold Lab:

Here’s a quick rundown of last week’s episodes on The Threshold Lab Podcast.

• The Map Is Not the Territory: How to Adapt When Reality Changes (9 min)

• Steady in the Wind: Why Strengths Are Your True Anchor (5 min)

• Movement Creates Clarity (8 min)

• Coaching Lessons from the Matrix: The Red Pill for Leadership (8 min)

• Interview with Becky Burleigh, Hall of Fame Soccer Coach (61 min)

You can listen to all past episodes here: The Threshold Lab Podcast.

With gratitude,

ZB