On This July 4th, Let’s Remember: To Be An American Is To Be Fearless

To be an American is to be fearless. 

I’m not saying that everyone born in this great nation has to run towards a burning building to prove their mettle. What I mean is that to participate in America is to participate in The Grand Experiment. 

It’s a phrase we hear often growing up. When you’re sitting in history class and the teacher asks you to pull out your textbook (or tablet), you read about the Founding Fathers and how they built a country from scratch.  No roadmap. No experience to lean into.

But do we ever stop to fully appreciate what this really means? 

From day-one, America—its founding documents, its laws and its values—has been a work in progress. The genius of the people who created the country was that they knew it. 

They weren’t scared by it, they were inspired by it. 

Since no one really knew what they were doing during those first days of the United States, our Founding Fathers carved out ways to encourage change, to evolve, to keep up to the needs of the nation. I don’t know about you—but that brings a tear to my eye when I watch the fireworks up high on the Fourth of July. 

Here we are in 2026. This weekend, America is celebrating its 250^th birthday. Yes, over time the experiment has seen ups and downs, highs and lows, good and bad. But at the end of the day, it’s very much worth celebrating. 

Today, it can feel controversial to be an American. There aren’t a lot of polls where overwhelming numbers of people are proudly pronouncing their patriotism. And that’s okay. We are a country founded on protest, unrest. It’s in our bones. 

But to live in a place that allows—even welcomes—that type of dissent, well, I can’t think of anything better. 

When we look back on history, we should be encouraged by it. Not ashamed. We should look back at the people who created the country from the seeds of a few ideas and feel heartened. Truly, they had no idea what fruits their philosophies would bring forth centuries after. Yet, here we are. 

The Founding Fathers knew they had to make it up as they went along—at least, in part. And they didn’t let that stop them. In any endeavor, you hope you’re headed in the right direction. You hope your instinct will prevail. 

But there is no guarantee. 

We can carry that same mentality with us in the workplace. So often, we are challenged with the unknown. A decision is put in front of us and the consequences are tremendous. What to do? The answer: Be fearless. 

No matter what one thinks of America today, there is no doubt that the country has been a light to the world. The phrase “It’s a free country” has become something of a hollow refrain to some, but to those who came here and found a better life, the idea is divine. 

When you get down to it, most great business icons of our day didn’t know exactly what they were doing in the moment. 

Steve Jobs and his team were building computers that would change history. On top of that, Jobs was inventing marketing philosophies that would impact the globe. As he sat in his garage, did he know the outcome of all his efforts entirely? 

How could he? 

But he was fearless. Over time, he grew into a leader so many revere today. 

In that way and in our own way, we can be like the Founding Fathers. We can look the unknown in the eye and smirk. 

We can acknowledge that it won’t always be perfect, but if we can continue to push our grand experiment—whatever that may be—forward, together, we will be better off for it. 

So, here’s to another 250 years, America. 

And to each of our next great success, too.