Ideas in the Wild: How Fred Joyal is Helping Us Live Bolder Lives

The biggest lesson that I learned developing the book was that truly bold people are the only ones who really make a difference in the world. They run for president. They start charitable organizations, they meet the partner of their dreams. And they have a good time doing all of it.

Boldness is a superpower. Bold individuals seize life in remarkable, almost unbelievable ways. They succeed in business, in careers, and in love, and they have a great time doing it. Bold people walk up to supermodels and ask them to dance. They stand in front of audiences and tell jokes. They start companies. They run for president.

What surprises most people is that boldness can be taught. Fred Joyal started as an extremely shy person, too timid even to make a phone call, and transformed himself into someone who has done stand-up and improv comedy, spoken to audiences of 5,000 or more, met dozens of celebrities, and, just by being bold, found love, joy, passion, and success.

And in his new book, Superbold, he offers a systematic, step-by-step approach that can take readers to a surprising level of boldness in as little as ninety days. I recently caught up with Fred to learn what inspired him to write the book and the biggest lesson he’s learned along the way.

What happened that made you decide to write the book? What was the exact moment when you realized these ideas needed to get out there?

I started out as a very shy person. And it took me years to overcome it. About 15 years ago, I had the opportunity to be a mentor in a weekend course for high school students. I was asked to give a presentation on what I had learned in life. The primary lesson that I taught them was that boldness is a superpower, and I gave them the reasons why, and how they could overcome their lack of confidence.

I saw the impact my message had on these students, and it gave me a deep pain within myself, realizing that no one had taught me this at their age. I had to learn it so slowly over the course of decades. I reflected on how different my life would have been if I had been able to be bolder and more confident in my life. I would have achieved so much more so much earlier in my life and been so much happier.

And I also saw the impact bold people were having on the world. And I looked at all the moments in my life where I was bold, and how it had made all the difference. I started my own business. I’ve had amazing relationships. I’ve visited dozens of countries and made friends all over the world. I speak to audiences of 5,000 people or more — fearlessly. And I wanted people to be able to develop and grow their confidence to whatever level they wanted, all the way to superboldness.

But the spark that led to the book was that my message resonated so much with these young people that I realized I had to formalize how I approached boldness and developed it within myself, so that anyone could do it.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned going through the journey you share in the book?

The biggest lesson that I learned developing the book was that truly bold people are the only ones who really make a difference in the world. They run for president. They start charitable organizations, they meet the partner of their dreams. And they have a good time doing all of it.

The key is, bold people never let their self-talk stop them. They are never the ones to tell themselves no. They let other people do it, and then often ignore them. One of the biggest messages of the book is, most people stop themselves because they think something bad is going to happen. They think they’ll be embarrassed or ashamed, or they’ll fail or be rejected, whatever. But bold people know that — 99% of the time — nothing bad happens.

And when something bad does happen, they brush it off and move on. If someone can come away from my book understanding that boldness is a superpower, and put it into action in their day-to-day lives, it will make a profound difference. That’s why I developed a systematic approach to becoming bolder, called the PRIDE Method.

How will you apply this lesson in your life moving forward?

I myself am still becoming older all the time. I do the exercises that are in the book myself. I am constantly flexing, expanding, and strengthening my boldness muscle. I do it because I want to have the greatest impact on the world as I go through life. And I don’t want to miss out on anything. Not a relationship, or an exciting time, or a powerful connection. And I don’t want to be afraid of failing at anything. I don’t want to fear rejection.

I want the excitement and satisfaction of constantly being in my discomfort zone and discovering what’s possible. And that’s how my life has been for the past 20 years. And it also takes boldness to write a book, to actually believe that my ideas are valuable. And I will turn Superbold into an entire business, with lectures, workshops, and video courses, so that people can really integrate the PRIDE Method into their lives and have a profound impact on their future. And I know it will have a profound impact on my future as well.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!