"Just watch me"

In early October of 1970, Canada was facing a terrorist insurrection akin to what happened last week at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Two major political figures were kidnapped, and one of them was murdered. Thousands of people marched in the streets in support of the FLQ, an organization that threatened the democracy and safety of the public, and went so far as to bomb the Montreal Stock Exchange, injuring 27 people. 

Pierre Trudeau, the Prime Minister at the time, was faced with what some might consider a hard choice: take drastic, immediate measures which would limit the freedoms of Canadian citizens, or allow a paramilitary organization to run amok and cause more bloodshed.

Trudeau didn't see it as a hard choice. 

In a now infamous offhand interview with a CBC reporter, Trudeau proclaimed that "it is more important to keep law and order in this society than to be worried about weak-kneed people who don't like the looks of a soldier's helmet." [emphasis added]

When the reporter asked him how far he was willing to go to keep law and order, he cheekily said:

"just watch me."

Just watch me. I love it. Three words that exude defiance, courage, a strong will, and indomitability. 

There will always be detractors. Non-believers. Cynics. Those who tell you what you really should be doing.

And, who knows, they may be half-right. 

But, if it's what you want, if it's what you believe to be right for you, you can stand up to those people. Even if you are uncertain in your abilities. 

When you start piling up the evidence of your self-efficacy, you know that you have the potential to make almost anything happen.

When they ask you how you will do it, you can tell them: "just watch me". 

And then back it up with actions, every day, that move you closer to what it is you really want.