Greetings,
First off, I want to welcome you to the first ever email I’m sending out — aside from the welcome email you received when you subscribed.
With that said, let’s get straight into it.
You always hear me talk about “The Arena” so I think its only right that in this first email I explain what it is, where I got it from and the significance behind it.
So what is The Arena?
It is a concept I adopted from Theodore Roosevelt’s 1910 speech, Citizenship in a Republic, which he delivered in Paris:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” ~ THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The speech emphasizes that real worth belongs to those who take action, not those who stand back and criticize. It praises people who dare to try, accept failure as part of effort, and commit themselves fully to meaningful work. Even if they fail, they are honourable because they had the courage to Step into The Arena, unlike those who never risk anything at all.
And when I look back at the risks I have taken in my life thus far, I have never regretted trying and failing, but I always regret not trying.
So I implore you to dare to try, step into the arena and fully commit to the process. For you it may look like starting that business, creating that YouTube channel, joining that course, taking that exam, signing up for that gym membership etc.
Worst case scenario; You fail.
Best case scenario; You achieve everything you’ve ever wanted, and more.
But even if you fail to achieve the specific goal you set out for, you will have gained valuable lessons and developed skillsets that can only come from trying and fully committing to the process—lessons you can carry forward, apply elsewhere in your life, and ultimately use to succeed. In simple terms, you never truly fail.
The worst kind of regret isn’t failure—it’s reaching the end of your life burdened by what ifs. What if you had tried? What if you had taken the risk, spoken up, chased the dream? What if you had stepped into the arena?
Those are the questions you never want waiting for you at the end. Better to face the scars of trying than the silence of never knowing. Failure fades, lessons remain, and growth lasts—but unanswered what ifs linger forever.
To live fully is to act, to choose courage over comfort, so that when the end comes, you’re at peace knowing you truly lived, not wondering who you might have been if only you had tried.
So I implore you once again, Step into The Arena.
As always I am grateful to have you here on this journey with me.
We’ll talk again soon.
Much love,
Cedric Turakira