Fear is a universal emotion. It’s a typical human feeling. However, constantly residing in the “what-if” might limit you in both your professional and personal lives. Before we look at courage exercises, let us have a look at how fear affects your life.
Everyone possesses courage, but occasionally it wanes due to unpleasant memories or experiences. To succeed in various scenarios in life, from meeting the other sex to performing your job, you must have courage. The quickest way to reach your full potential is to practice courage exercises and venture outside of your comfort zone.
However, fear gets in the way for many of us. Many people hesitate to apply for jobs out of concern that they aren’t qualified enough, or they hold back from making a constructive change in their lives out of a fear of the unknown.
How Does Fear Hold You Back?
Fearing what might happen or if you make the wrong choice will leave your life stagnant. You remain in your cozy, safe comfort zone and postpone making important life decisions. However, it might be risky to become overly reliant on your comfort zone. Fear impedes personal, professional, or emotional growth.
Effect on personal growth.
You grow personally when you overcome obstacles and challenging circumstances. But when you allow fear to act as a barrier in your way, your personal development is temporarily hampered. Fear causes you to withdraw into your shells rather than improve your mental health and evolve. You begin to shun new experiences to avoid uncomfortable experiences. And you eventually begin to feel empty because you aren’t leading your true life. You are essentially forcing yourself to live in a safe space that you’ve long outgrown rather than making progress.
Effect on professional growth.
Maybe you don’t find your current job fulfilling. Although you are aware that you need to change careers, you are putting off taking action because you are afraid of failing. So you continue to live there for another year, two years, or three years. Fear of failure hinders your ability to advance professionally. You decide to feel secure rather than improving in your profession, learning new skills, and being in a position that is consistent with your genuine potential.
Fear of failing and fear of not being good enough are related. This is yet another imposter syndrome-related roadblock to your professional development. In this situation, you could be hesitant to assume a leadership position because you doubt your abilities. When you allow fear to rule your professional life, you will never be able to make choices that will move you forward.
Effect on emotional growth.
Your emotional development is hampered if fear causes you to avoid situations that force you to get outside of your comfort zone. You lose out on the opportunity to build the solid emotional capabilities you need for success in both your personal and professional life.
A lack of emotional growth could leave you more susceptible to upsetting events. This form of intense, prolonged stress is referred to as “bad stress” in contrast to the good kind of stress that fosters growth.
A lack of resilience will cause you to see problems at work as threats rather than chances. Your ability to function at work and adjust to these new surroundings are both impacted by this. You won’t be able to handle challenging circumstances in your personal and professional lives if you consistently avoid opportunities for emotional growth.
How To Be Courageous?
Let us look at some courage exercises to become fearless and take on any challenge that comes your way:
Identify your fears.
People are often reluctant to acknowledge their fears, which may be eroding their courage and confidence. You need to identify your particular fear to start developing courage. Until you start to reflect on what makes you lack courage, you might not even be aware of your specific fears.
As you identify your fears, put them in writing. It will help you in creating a strategy to get past them and increase your courage. Doing this exercise often makes one feel ashamed or embarrassed, it won’t be an easy one.
Determine the cause of your fears.
Finding the root causes of your particular fears will help you start acting proactively to change this habit and ultimately develop courage in any circumstance.
You can start developing your courage by reflecting on specific experiences that may have led to your lack of confidence and countering them with positive experiences. If you are unable to pinpoint an experience that caused your fear, it can be connected to a memory or a societal fear, such as the fear of failing. By carefully considering the time and circumstances in which your fears may have come true in the past, you can counteract them.
Over time, you may be able to get over your fears by reflecting on them and their causes. It can be enough to simply acknowledge your worries for you to be able to move past them.
Acknowledge your courage.
Taking the time to recognize your courage will help you learn how to use it in situations that would otherwise make you hesitant. Everybody has courage, even if it’s “hidden” or seems insignificant. For instance, you might be willing to frequently relocate to different regions of your country or the world, which requires courage both to start over in unfamiliar circumstances and to accept the possibility of failure. Becoming aware of your courage helps you in cultivating courage in all areas of your life.
Recognize your strengths.
When it comes to leading a courageous life, it can be helpful to start by recognizing your strengths and areas of accomplishment. Research demonstrates that people who are aware of and build upon their talents are more resilient as well as happier.
Knowing your strengths can raise your confidence, which increases your tendency for courage and risk-taking. Likewise, when you have faith in your skills, you are far more likely to seize an opportunity when it arises.
Additionally, it’s normal to focus on your flaws and weaknesses while you are battling fear and wish to add more courage to your life. But doing this merely decreases your likelihood of feeling courageous. For this reason, it’s essential to consider your strengths as a strategy to boost your courage and confidence.
Examine various situations.
It can be beneficial to think about the worst-case situation as well as what would happen if you did nothing when it comes to being courageous. Comparing the two extremes is often all you need to overcome your fears because, most of the time, the worst-case scenario is frequently insignificant in comparison to what you could stand to gain by taking action. If you employ comparisons like this often, you will eventually develop resistance to allowing your fears to govern you.
You might also conjure up situations in which you picture yourself undertaking a terrifying task. Imagine how you will handle each potential situation, including your various responses and statements. You can practice being brave with the help of these activities without having to put yourself in danger before you are ready.
Try to step outside of your comfort zone.
A life that isn’t fully lived might happen when you allow fear to stop you from having fun, pursuing your dreams, or expressing your true self. And you’ll need to live intentionally if you want to change that element of your life. Force yourself to leave your comfort zone if you want to develop your courage muscles. Therefore, pick some situations where the risks are low but you feel uncomfortable.
In other words, practice being brave by overcoming minor fears like dining alone in a restaurant or meeting new people before you take on something more difficult like taking the initiative on a project or organizing your neighborhood’s toy drive. You can grow acclimated to being brave without taking many chances at first by starting small. You will eventually reach a stage where you can accept greater risks.
Don’t compare yourself to others.
Comparing oneself to other individuals can undermine your confidence because every person is unique. Building your confidence and courage requires concentrating on yourself rather than comparing yourself to others.
Keep in mind that while some people may have courage in certain circumstances, you probably do in others. If you find yourself in a position where someone else shows courage when you don’t, as when a teammate never seems to care about disappointing the others while you do, consider what you are good at that they aren’t.
You may show that you have courage by turning the attention back to your capabilities. Many people could appear brave to intimidate others. Don’t let someone else’s bravery or self-assurance undercut yours.
Embrace the positive and stay away from the negative.
Negative emotions drain you, and if you give in to them, they’ll become stronger and drain your courage and confidence. Finding the good in any circumstance will help you develop your overall courage.
There is always some element of courage even in the most terrifying circumstances. Being able to perceive these daring qualities in anything will help you gain confidence and courage, even if it takes some time to do so.
Be confident and act courageous.
Two qualities of courageous people are their self-confidence as well as their belief in their capacity for success and their ability to face their fears. You put yourself on the path to developing and sustaining courage by creating and displaying confidence in both yourself and others.
Knowing that you have a decent degree and training, having solid relationships, or even just looking beautiful can all give you confidence. This self-assurance can support your bravery and increase your willingness to face your worries. It’s important to understand that failure plays a crucial role in overcoming fears, even if you are courageous and confident.
Take risks and embrace failures.
Taking risks, some of which will be successful and others will not, is a part of developing your courage. Your confidence and courage might greatly increase in the future if you have the ability to take a risk and accept the possibility of failure. Stepping outside of your comfort zone develops confidence.
Consider your dangers and proceed slowly. For instance, if you are terrified of heights, start progressively building your courage there. You can either ascend stairs to the top of a small building or stand on a three-meter diving board to stare into a pool. You can overcome your fear of heights and develop confidence without skydiving from an airplane. Recognize that failure is a part of any pursuit. You can maintain your courage and be able to keep taking calculated risks if you learn to accept failure and move on.
Celebrate acts of courage.
Always remember the instances when you overcame fear and acted bravely. It’s crucial to celebrate yourself and acknowledge the effort required to face your fear.
You don’t have to announce it loudly or post it on social media, but keep a mental record of your accomplishments and permit yourself to feel proud of them. You could even want to keep a record of these small affirmations so you can look back on them when you’re feeling down or like you lack bravery in your life. This will prevent you from thinking negatively or presuming that you will never be brave.
The Ending Note
Failure keeps people stagnant. Remind yourself that failing is okay, especially if you took a chance or pushed yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s never too late to begin to lead a courageous life. Courage is just another trait that you can learn through experience and deliberate effort. Additionally, you’ll boost your self-confidence and be more productive in general when you recognize your fears and take proactive steps to overcome them to accomplish your goals.
FAQs
How do you practice the virtue of courage?
You can practice the virtue of courage by:
- Being true to your word,
- Giving your all,
- Acting on your well-chosen values; exercising the virtues.
- Demonstrating your dedication to a worthy cause through your active participation.
- Refusing to comply, help, or ignore dishonest, unfair, coercive, cruel, bigoted, wasteful, or deceptive words or practices encountered in your daily activities.
- Be willing to speak the truth to power to right a wrong.
- Doing the right thing at crucial moments in your lives, and every day. Accept no bribes, cheat on your taxes, or inflate your expense vouchers.
- Overcoming or at least controlling addictions with courage.
What is courage muscle?
Courage is similar to muscle. The more you use it, the more powerful it becomes. Similarly, every action you take in the presence of your fear dilutes its power and amplifies your own.
What is the process of courage?
- Identify your fears.
- Determine the cause of your fears.
- Acknowledge your courage.
- Recognize your strengths.
- Examine various situations.
- Try to step outside of your comfort zone.
- Don’t compare yourself to others.
- Embrace the positive and stay away from the negative.
- Be confident and act courageous.
- Take risks and embrace failures.
- Celebrate acts of courage.