I’m willing to bet you're wondering if courage can be learned?
And you’re likely wondering this because you don’t feel like you have very much courage.
Well, the good news is YES!
Courage can most definitely be learned!
But…
It will be a very challenging road to walk, mainly because it’s going to take of courage to walk it.
I know this sounds counterintuitive, but just follow me for a moment…
Here’s how courage building worked for me:
I’m afraid to do a thing but I really want to do that thing…
Another opportunity to do that thing is staring me in my face, so I decide I’m going to do the thing…
But for some reason my body isn’t allowing me to move toward the thing..
Then, I relax just enough to squint my eyes and tap the thing with my big toe..
And I open my eyes to realize my big toe wasn’t even harmed!...
And I think to myself: maybe I can put my whole foot in next time, and maybe my whole right leg the time after that, and oh what the heck I’m just gonna jump in already!
Does any of this sound familiar?
If you want to build your courage in something, you’ve got to muster up just enough of it to do that thing on a very small scale. Then, incrementally, you learn that you can in fact do the thing without getting hurt, and you were good at it too!
These positive outcomes give you permission to have a little more courage the next time you go to do that thing. And over time, you will have all the courage you’d ever need regarding that particular task or activity.
But if you want to build your courage in a different task or activity, you’ll have to restart the incremental courage growth process in that specific area.
So, can courage be learned?
Absolutely! Just pick a specific task or activity, and try to do it in small, yet manageable increments until you whole heartedly believe you can do that task or activity without any hesitation.
