I've tried being depressed, and it sucked!

Not my typical opener, I know, but it was my response to a client who told me how refreshing it was to talk to someone who had "unwarranted optimism."

That phrase comes from the late, and most definitely great, Sir Tim Brighouse's four essential leadership principles.

(Photo stuck on my wall and captured by another phenomenal educator Lisa Fathers the Deputy CEO of Bright Futures Educational Trust)

Sir Tim Brighouse's wisdom on leadership in times of change hits differently today. He speaks of four essential qualities:

Regarding crises as the norm and complexity as fun

A bottomless well of intellectual curiosity

A complete absence of paranoia and self-pity

Unwarranted optimism

That last one is a choice.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting you can just choose your way out of depression. Having been there, it's not an experience I’d be able to minimise. What I mean is the daily decision to do 'the work' after the journey of embracing the tools and resources necessary to break through.This requires a commitment to being 10% braver.

In Bonnie Ware's profound book "The Five Regrets of the Dying", the number one regret is "I wish I'd had the courage to be myself."

The brilliant news for those of us who are not at the end of our lives is that we can benefit from that wisdom today.

We can do a premortem on our lives by simply asking:

"What could my life look like if I was just 10% braver?"

Some mornings, my choice to focus on gratitude doesn't kick in until after a cuppa - or seven! It's about progress, not perfection.

So, in the words of Sir Tim: “Do you have the resilience to show unwarranted optimism and to regard crisis as the norm and complexity as fun while maintaining a bottomless well of intellectual curiosity?”

And from me... What would you do if you were just 10% braver today?