TWO KEYS to being COURAGEOUS?
COURAGE. What immediately comes to mind when you hear the
word courage? Most of us would probably think of a soldier endangering his/her
life on the battlefield, police officers placing themselves in harm’s way or a
firefighter running into a burning building to save someone? These are certainly courageous acts, but I
would argue that courage is not limited to these heroic deeds: to be courageous
or not to be courageous is something you and I are faced with every day. Most
of us would agree that courage is not found in the faint of heart, but is only
in extraordinary people; extraordinary people who push themselves and constantly
do and learn new things outside of their comfort-zone. We find great acts of
courage in entrepreneurs, small business owners and any others who stretch themselves
professionally to do nerve racking activates they have never done before. The fact is that these extraordinary people
can easy be people just like you and me –people who learn to recognize fear and
yet push through it to accomplish something they never have before!
You can’t be
courageous if you don’t have fear. Frequently, I have seen a quote on Facebook
stating something along the lines that, “where courage is, fear is absence.”
This is such an ignorant claim rooted in a wish and not at all in reality! A person simply cannot do anything extraordinary
if there is no risk in what they are about to accomplish, and it is a rational
sense of the risk which causes fear. Everyone has some level of fear. Fear and
courage go hand in hand. When we are
faced with risk, and fear rises up in us, know that this is the moment when a
person has to decide to be courageous or not. We should not fear fear but rather
see our fears as signs guiding us in the direction we need to go. Everyone that
is honest with themselves will have to acknowledge they have fear. However, it
is what we do with our fear that will either cripple us in our growth or will
cause us to increase and make us and the world better.
Courage is really defined by what you do with
fear. Most people do what is easy, safe
and comfortable moving away from their fear and risk to stay in their comfort
zone rather than moving forward their fear courageously. It is important to
note that people who have the greatest growth and success in life are the most
courageous because to achieve their success they courageously overcame their
fears. It would be a lie to say successful people don’t have fears and what
they did with them that made them successful.
There are two keys to start with in order to be courageous.
The first is knowing, acknowledging and owning ones fears, and second, take
habitual action to overcome the obstacles that cause the fear. Grant Cardon, in
his book, Sell or Be Sold says; whatever
it is that you are afraid of you need to move towards it every day! According
to Grant, personal growth happens when we move towards our fears to overcome
them and accomplish something. Our fears only grow and debilitate us if we run
away from them. But it is wisdom to acknowledge them and courage to move
towards them and overcome them. To overcome fear is not easy at all, but know
that anything good and significant in this life is NOT easy to get and keep.
The best way to live a significant purpose filled life is to grow in personal development
which is the only way to be a positive influence and inspiration in the lives of
others, but the only way to do this is to move towards fear daily with courage
to overcome them.
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Are you courageous? When was the last time you accomplished
something and thought, “I am courageous”? Courage is not strictly defined by
placing yourself in harm’s way such as a soldier working under fire, or a fire-fighter
entering a burning house. Rather courage is defined by doing our duty in spite
of our fears so it involves a much larger spectrum of people –a group of people
that can very likely include you and me if we want it too. Courageous people
are people who are NOT letting their fear stop them but are rather constantly
moving towards their fear. They make this a habit and the results are they are
getting better and accomplishing new things so that they can increase their
goals to do more new things. Do not fear fear. Love it and embrace it because it
gives opportunity to be courageous in order to grow and lead inspirational and
purpose filled lives.

