The Steps to Being Courageous

A trait that many of us value across the board is courage. We all respect when someone is courageous and does what is required of them, but I don’t think courage is embraced as much as it should be. Let me ask you this. When was the last time you were courageous? It’s tougher to think of than it should be. This is because we often see courage as something external that other people do, but never think to embody it ourselves. This comes from our brain protecting us from the fear we are trying to avoid. But I believe that gaining awareness on the topic will help us to practice it more.

Being courageous involves three things which are gaining clarity on what you want, acknowledging the fear, and taking action.

First, we need to clarify what we want because if we don’t have that then what’s the point? We can never rationalize our way in to doing something we fear if we don’t believe it has purpose. So start there.

Then, if the means to accomplish it makes you afraid, then you need to acknowledge that emotion. Don’t avoid that truth because then you’ll avoid everything associated with it. I bet you’ve been forced to be courageous when you had non-negotiable responsibilities to attend to. This shows that you can act in the face of fear, and labeling it helps you understand the nature of your discomfort.

Then last, you have to take action. Courage doesn’t exist unless you take action because courage describes a state that involves overcoming the fear, so by definition you can only be courageous by taking action.