The Secret Skill of the Successful: Courage

Summary:

Easily the most overlooked ingredient in the recipe of success - courage. This underutilized skill has the power to create the most vibrant, zesty, powerful moments in our life. Think back to a memory where you felt really present and alive... a moment when you felt intimately connected to the now. At some point leading up to that moment you had to take a step of courage. Whether it's saying "I love you" for the first time or getting up to deliver your TED talk, courage is what got you there.

Courage is often thought about as something you have or do not have in any given moment. This is an unhelpful mindset. Instead think about it like a muscle you develop. Courage is not something you possess, it is a decision to engage with the uncomfortable. How do you build courage? You consistently put yourself outside your comfort zone. Key word there is consistently. This is how the muscle grows. While on the journey of building courage remember that even when an act of courage results in "failure", that doesn't mean you didn't build courage. Just because the initial marketing campaign of your new business bombed doesn't mean it was a waste of time. It was just "going to the gym". Your courage muscle has now grown because you weren't sure about how things were going to turn out with the campaign but you did it anyway. That ability to take risks without any guarantees is growth. Celebrate it!

Courage could be the gap for you right now between you and what you want. There are people operating at higher levels than you right now not because they have more skill or a better work ethic, but simply because they have more courage. There are so many people with incredible products, services and works of art that the world will never know about. Not because they are inferior to what is already out there, but simply because their creator did not have the courage to share them. Don't let that be your story. If you've got the heart and the skill to improve the lives of others, do not let lack of courage hold you back.

Full Transcript:

all right let's talk about one of my favorite topics courage how do we develop it how do we think about it how do we use it to accomplish our goals and get where we want to go and it's one of my favorite topics to discuss because there's so many ways we can go with this but before we talk about how to implement courage in your life I first want to address the importance of it because you know we all have a memory way back when of important moments in our life where we felt very connected to the moment okay like think of a moment where you felt like really zesty really excited really present really proud of something you did maybe it was with someone you love in a very close moment with them maybe it was after accomplishing a really important goal you worked hard towards and you just felt so connected and so alive to that moment and you're just like yeah you know I guarantee you you take back that that moment um three or four steps and somewhere in that zone before you got to that moment you had to step out and take an act of courage to make that moment possible and that's the power of courage in our life it can create the most alive vibrant memories for us but not only the big memories like the graduating college or you know you got married or you accomplished some gigantic promotion courage allows us to have small moments I mean think about the last um you know moment you have with someone who is close to you doesn't it take courage just to ask them hey how are you really it takes courage to to think and to talk with people that we love in just the simple moments in a really authentic way where we sit down and we look at them and we say I love you and I'm showing it to you by spending time with you and that's what courage can do so let's talk about how to develop that the first thing we got to understand is is how we how we think about courage so a lot of people think they have courage or they can have courage like having a car like buying something like you buy it once you have it you own it you have it or you don't have it what I want to shift in your mind first is just understanding that courage is not something you have or you don't have it's more like a muscle you exercise it's more like a gym membership if you have the gym membership or not that really doesn't matter what matters is do you have a habit of going to that gym that you bought a membership for three times a week if you do you're going to exercise your muscles and get better same thing with courage it's got to be a habit to step outside your comfort zone so I know you know that but like think back in the last 30 days like when was the last time I intentionally set up a scenario where I stepped out in Courage and said I'm gonna do this even though I don't feel ready I'm gonna take that step even though it's uncomfortable getting outside our comfort zone is not a one and done it's actually something we need to schedule we need to integrate into our daily and weekly rhythms otherwise it fades when you look at the people at the top of their game all they've done to get there to establish that expertise or to become really competent in an area that we want to be competent in is they just made a habit of being uncomfortable of getting outside the comfort zone so that's something to think about how can you start a habit of getting outside your comfort zone in the area where you want to develop more courage and here's the thing about courage too realize that it could be the gap for you right now maybe you want a promotion at work maybe you want to you know find a partner whatever it is realize that some people right now are operating at a higher level in whatever that area of life is for you simply because they chose to show up as they were they just made a decision to say you know what I don't know how this is going to end up I don't know how this will all be figured out but I'm gonna take the first step even though I don't feel ready and what people do is they see that and they respect it and they give you credibility just for having courage you might have the same level of Competency as a person we're talking about here but they decided to have a little bit more courage they decided to step out on a more regular basis and now they're achieving the goals that you wish you had achieve by now so realize that courage might be the Gap maybe you don't need to develop another skill maybe you don't need that degree or to get that Mentor or to go you know have that thing or have this background or that family or that that Network or whatever you think whatever qualifier you say I have to have to to get what I want maybe all you need to do tomorrow is say you know what this is me and I'm starting here and no I don't know what I'm doing but I'm gonna start anyway and that's what will get you on the journey and then once you start you build a habit like we talked about of stepping outside your comfort zone and then before you know it you've done it a thousand times you've done it five thousand times you're good at what you want to be good at you've developed courage you've started this stack of Courage that is built high enough now where you're operating at a level that you never thought you'd be able to I remember when I first saw a YouTube video of one of my um greatest mentors and it was 10 years ago and I thought to myself oh my gosh how does he do that how does he talk in such an eloquent way how does he communicate his values and his ideas in such a helpful way that helps me to take home notes to think about it and chew on and imply to my life now I'm not saying I'm an amazing Communicator myself I'm just saying that ice was way way better uh I'm way way better now than I was when I first saw that video his video inspired me to develop the communication skills that I have now so that doing this video is no longer a pipe dream it's just another video for me and I'm so glad that I recorded the first couple of videos that I posted online to share my thoughts and my values with the world because they were horrible but they got me started and that's what counts and now years later I have more skills and I have more abilities to communicate the same thing can be true for you so please please realize that courage could be the gap for you right now start building a habit of exercising courage like a muscle and I can't wait to hear your story about how you've developed incredible courage in your life