Rx For Courage: Do One Scary Thing a Day

Do you know that you have all the courage inside you that you need to tackle any fear or doubt that you might encounter? I know that some of you are probably shaking your heads right now, thinking, “Not me. I don’t have much courage. I am always getting blindsided by fear.” The truth of the matter is that you do have the courage; but because it hasn’t been used very much, it could be a little flabby.

Courage is like a muscle. To be able to use it effectively we need to exercise it on a regular basis. But most of us don’t think about exercising our courage. We only think about courage when we are faced with a large, anxiety-producing task; and then we get upset with ourselves because we don’t have the courage to overcome the fears and doubts that are associated with accomplishing that task.

So, let’s talk for a moment about how you might go about exercising your courage, building it up so that it will be there ready for you to call upon when needed. Building up your courage is like building up muscles. You need to start slowly.

First, you need to familiarize yourself with your courage. Since many people don’t think they do not have any courage, the first thing to do is to get a frame of reference of what being courageous feels like. One way to do that is to take a moment and remember a time when you felt courageous. It could be something small or something big. It could be recent or something that happened a while ago. Maybe it was when you were a little kid and you finally learned to dive. Maybe it was a difficult conversation or a speech you had to make.

Can you remember what made you decide to do it? How did it feel to step into your courage and power, to follow through on something that was important to you? What made you overcome the fear and just do it? Can you remember?

Now that you have a point of reference, you can use that experience as a motivator as you try new things. You’ve done it once, you know what it feels like and you know you have the ability to do it again.

The next step is to do is to actually tap into your courage. Think of something to do that scares you a little. Choose something small. Maybe it’s making a phone call you’ve put off. Maybe it’s asking a favor of someone. Maybe it’s just saying “hi” to a stranger on the street.

The “what” doesn’t matter. What matters is to choose something that gives your stomach a minor case butterflies or that causes the voices in your head to quietly remind you that this isn’t a good thing to do. And then, do it anyway. Each time you break through the wall of fear and doubt, you build up your courage. Eventually the scales will tip and courage will consistently triumph over fear.

But this all takes time, intention and repetition. So, I invite you for the next 30 days to choose one thing a day that pushes your fear limit. One thing that you think you can’t do, shouldn’t do, or don’t want to do because the voices of fear and doubt are telling you that you are not up to the task. Just one thing a day.

After each task you do, take a moment to think about how it felt to do it, what happened to the voices, how you feel now. With each task you are exercising and building your courage. You are becoming more confident and empowered to live your life the way you want to live it; and not the way the voices of fear and doubt want you to live it.

And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful that the risk it took to blossom. Anais Nin