Courage? Or fear?
“Courage is one step ahead of fear.” ~ Coleman Young
When I was growing up, one of my favourite books was on Richard the Lion Heart, one of the kings of England. (You may have come across him as the always-absent King in Robin Hood).
Nowadays, with a little more sophisticated understanding of world affairs, I suspect he wasn’t all that was noble and mighty in a war general and a king. But I did love his name. “Coeur de Lion.” It just seemed to sum up all that I wanted to be. Brave. Bold. Courageous.
As I’ve spent more time championing the Great Work movement, I’ve come to realize you can reduce to essence of doing more Great Work to just two things.
The first is focus. Knowing what you stand for. Knowing where the opportunity for Great Work lies for you.
And the second is courage. That is, the willingness to actually do that Great Work, knowing that it’s never the easiest path to take.
Here are three things I’ve learned about courage.
1. It’s an act of the mind
“Courage is almost always a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.”
~ Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Even though the etymology of the word harks back to the Latin word for “heart”, the truth is that the battle to be courageous first gets played out in your mind.
On the one hand you have that little voice saying “play it safe, don’t be foolish, don’t step away from what you know.”
And on the other, you have the call to something a little bigger, a little different, a little unknown.
Notice the chatter. Rather than rushing through, linger a little at these crossroads. If this is a discussion, then it means you’ll have a choice.
Who’s winning the debate? Courage? Or fear?
2. It’s an act of the body
“Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.”
~ Eddie Rickenbacher
A courageous act isn’t necessarily a grand thing. It doesn’t necessarily involve fireworks and marching bands and unfurled banner against the sky.
But it does involve action. A small step.
It might be a step towards something, the beginning of a Great Work project, a Yes.
it might be a step away from something, a breaking of a unproductive pattern, a No.
But it’s a step.
When your mind is log-jammed, sometimes the easiest way to break things up is just to get moving.
3. It’s a fine line
“Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained. “
~ Arthur Somers Roche
If the choice we face – and we face this in a thousand different ways every day – is between courage and fear, then it’s a delicate balance that can tip either way.
Just as if you let fear hold sway, it eventually cuts a deep channel (and Roche’s metaphor is actually a good description of the neuroscience behind the way we think), so to courage can cut its own path over time.
You will of course occasionally tip to fear. But practice one, or ten, or a hundred small even invisible acts of courage a day, and you tip the balance inexorably to your favour.
Six practical strategies to find your courage
“A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
How much of your talent is being lost to the world for the want of a little courage?
The truth is, everyone courage fails them from time to time. That pesky inner critic gremlin-y voice in your head says “What are you doing? Are you crazy? Stop that!” And you do, you dial it down and play it small.
But as various people have said, it’s not how many times you get knocked down that matters it’s how many times you get back up. It’s just that sometimes, it can feel difficult to pick yourself back up once again.
So I’ve written an ebook with six practical strategies for when your courage temporarily leaves you and you’d like to get it back.
And it’s just $11.
- “It takes courage to…” (Great Work quote)
- “Love. And Fear. Love. And Fear. That’s all it is. That’s all it is.” (Great Work quote)
Oh, this is so true!
I look back on life where I turned down so many opportunities simply because they would have asked me to step outside of my comfort zone. You know what I am doing now? Working for a network marketing company!! And you know why? Because I have recognised that this is a great product with a great company and all my stupid fears would, if I allowed them, stop me from loving this product and making good money at the same time.
So I am going for it big time and taking my team with me, using all my coaching and leadership talents and it is the most amazing journey. Courage is good, courage is what we need to stretch and to grow. Oh, and belief in our own wonderful capabilities.
Great stuff! Be bold!
I’m insterested in the “six practical strategies for when your courage temporarily leaves you” but I can’t find how to order on the website – can you help?