Courage…How to Go Get Some and Overcome the Initial FEAR!

Courage…How to Go Get Some and Overcome the Initial FEAR!

You know that taking action is the answer to getting over the fear.  The magic lies in simply doing that of which you are afraid, or doing the things that surround the source of the fear.  The action may not be pretty, it may be a winding path, it may result in many failure lessons along the way, but ultimately it is the answer.

Great, we know we need to take action, but we’ve neglected an important question about the very beginning.  An important first step to taking that action.  That question is: “What do you need to take that FIRST STEP?”  What gets our minds over the fear just enough to take that very first action, so that the doing can take over?

It’s like starting a ball rolling across the floor.  Newton’s First Law informs us that when an object is at rest, to get it moving, you must apply just enough force to overcome the friction.  So we are looking for the mindset equivalent to this force to overcome the friction that results in our inertia.

That force we seek…is COURAGE!!  We need just enough COURAGE to outweigh the initial fear.  We will never, ever take that first step without having the courage to take it.  Once we are moving forward, the doing takes over, but it is courage that gets us started.

So how do we get the courage?  Courage is not something that we can just summon.  We need to dig and uncover the source of it, and then water the seeds to make it grow.  When you dig around the annals of your mind (and in the minds of many successful achievers of the past and present), you find that the source the of courage is…DESIRE!!  Our level of courage always rises to match our level of desire.  Sometimes there’s a lag, but it gets there…always:

So what does that mean to us?  It means, we must raise our level of DESIRE!  The secret to gaining the COURAGE to take that first step is to raise our level of DESIRE (of our goal, vision, or dream) above the level of FEAR.  That injects the courage into our mindset and allows us to overcome the inertia and take the first step of action.  All you need to know about your current situation is that your DESIRE level does NOT currently EXCEED your FEAR level.

How then do we raise our level of desire?  OK…before we dive in there, we must take an aside.  If you are anything like me, you may be saying to yourself, “But isn’t it selfish or sinful to raise our level of desire?  Shouldn’t we be happy with what we have?”  Well, that depends, so let’s discuss it.

Here is where I’m going to do 2 things for you:

1. Take you off the hook for desiring (the proper kinds of goals)
2. Obliterate one of the biggest excuses that your mind uses

I am truly fortunate, and have many blessings (for some of these blessings, please see the About Me page).  Whenever I would feel the fear, I would start saying to myself that I should just be thankful for what I have, and that somehow wanting to achieve or do more was selfish or morally wrong or sinful.  But when my current life’s goals crystallized, I started to really wrestle with this concept, and then I started looking around.  Here is just some of what I’ve found:

• The “fortunate scale” is huge, and there are many below me and many above me
• There are many people WAY ABOVE me on the fortunate scale who are still achieving more of their goals…in a good way.  These people are not letting there current blessings impede them from continuing to move forward and achieve more goals.
• There are many people WAY BELOW me who are grinding to achieve more.  They also don’t let where they started, or where they currently are deter their commitment to their goals.
• The key for me is that I could find both types of people who still remain grounded, and thankful, and aware of what they have, and from where they come.

You see, I was simply letting fear and resistance get the best of me by using the excuse of, “Just be happy and thankful where you are”.  Don’t confuse this with the notion of selfishly “wanting more”.  That’s not what I am talking about.  Make no mistake of my intention here.  When I’m speaking of DESIRE and GOALS, I am speaking of noble desire, not selfish and destructive desire.  I’m NOT providing a license to succumb to narcissistic and destructive desires.  You know the difference.

So there you go…Your off the hook, it’s OK to raise your level of desire, and the excuse has been deleted.

Back to…How do we raise our level of desire?  

 

This picture is our goal, and here’s how its done:

1. Focus on that desire: Let yourself dream of it, let yourself envision a time when you have accomplished your goal, understand that this is your desire because you have something unique to share with the world, and do it everyday.
2. Put it on the calendar:   Choose a date at which you will have accomplished your goal, and write it down.
3. Make a plan to get there: Once you have the vision of which you desire and have set the time and date, now you need to make the plan.  Define the mini-steps, the sub-goals, and the other ingredients necessary to accomplish it.  If you are looking for help on THE PLAN, I can help.  Contact me anytime and we can discuss your customized plan.  Once you have done this, you can focus simply on that first step.  The problems are now solved, its just a matter of walking the line.
4. Wakeup everyday thinking about it, and review your progress at the end of the day: Start the day with purpose, and just as importantly, look back at the day and don’t let yourself off the hook.  Until your desire, and courage, raise above the level of the level, you will not have taken action…So FEEL the disappointment, and then FLIP that disappointment into resolve to have a better next day.

Here’s what to be aware of at the end of the days before you have raised the courage to take the first step.  At the end of another day of not taking that first step, when you feel the disappointment (FEEL IT), your mind is at a crossroads and its going to go one of 2 ways: NEGATIVE or POSITIVE.  There is no middle ground. You need to recognize both of these, and wrestle your mind into the positive.

How many times when you are disappointed with yourself, have you said either to yourself, or out loud?

• I can’t do this
• I don’t want really want to do this anyway
• If I do this, ___________ may happen, and I don’t want that
• Maybe God doesn’t want me to do this

That’s the FEAR and the RESISTANCE.  Don’t let it win.  Here’s what you tell yourself:

• I will do this!
• It’s just a matter of time!
• I will commit to being better tomorrow!
• How great will it be when I’ve accomplished ___________ !

Keeping your mind in the positive is the key to raising your desire level everyday.  Everyday you win the battle of your MIND, you raise your desire.  You have to understand that the reason many of your noble goals and desires have shrunk and withered is because it’s 100% self preservation that if you continue on the negative side, and let the fear win, that your mind will lessen the desire. It has to.  How could you live with yourself if your desire to accomplish a goal was just under the level of fear everyday, but it never changed?  The disappointment would be overwhelming.  Know that, and keep it in the positive, and it will keep rising until BANG!

FIRST STEP TAKEN!

Now dig down in there and find those desires, raise them up, and get the COURAGE!

Please connect with me.  I want to learn from you and your experiences.  Please let me know what you think…

Have a great day!