When I set out to write Be The Lion, it was to provide a manual for anyone looking to improve their daily life, their state of mind and put their talents to work in a way that they could feel fulfilled and therefore thrive.
One of the biggest lessons for me, is that of having and developing courage. It seemed to me that so often we know what it is we need to do to achieve a better life, but we seldom stick with it long enough to create the change and form the habits that will carry us to the land of success.
It is about having the courage to stick with your plan, to act, to know what it is about yourself that needs to change and to see it through.
We are afraid of what other people will think of us, how we will be treated, outcast and ostracised when really none of that is the worst thing, it's missing out on who we could become if we actually put our own needs first to better ourselves.
How to have more courage
1.Each day review your goals, yes, you should have daily goals, this is how you can set your ship in a certain direction and ensure you’ll reach destination you actually want to go. Without goals, we are rudder less and we have thrown the map overboard, we don’t know when we have strayed off the path, and therefore don’t course correct. It’s a cycle of aimlessness. By having goals and taking action daily in pursuit of them you train your mid to be open to the possibility and the opportunity. You also create the habit of knowing what needs to be done, and acting on it, no matter if it is scary or anxiety provoking. Being able to control your mindset is paramount to cultivating courage, if you spend the day reading news that is depressing, fear mongering and altogether bad, limitations will start to creep in if you let them. Having a tougher mindset around how you let your perception of the world and experience be influenced by external factors is essential.
2. Do more than you think you are capable. The way to be courageous is to bite off more than you can chew. Quite literally, when you are planning out your goals, make them big, you won’t ever achieve more than your goal on purpose so you might as well set a big one. This works in two ways, firstly because the goal is bigger you’ll take bigger actions in order to make it happen and secondly the expansion a bigger goal creates in your mind is one of possibility and it is this mindset shift that will draw other people of the same nature to you. This in effect will bring the very people you need into your life to help you achieve your goal. People of the same nature flock together, so make sure you are will driven and ambitious big goal-oriented people and you’ll naturally raise your game.
3.Do the hardest task first, make that call you’ve been putting off, finish that email, see that client, when you want to cultivate more courage it is best to start with the thing you most want to put off. This tell your mind that you don’t fear the thing you don’t want to do. In effect you are showing your mind through your actions that you will succeed no matter what and you won’t let anything hold you back.
4.Don’t base your self-esteem on something that is anti-fragile. Thank Tom Bileyu for this one – learning is anti-fragile because the more you put pressure on it the more you grow. For example, if someone highlights that you suck at something, thank them for showing you where you are weak, this is not a bad thing, it actually shows you what you need to improve and therefore you can set about doing the work. If you base your self-esteem on things that you have little to know control over, like other people opinions of you, or status, material items, then these are fragile and if applied pressure to will break, collapse and cause you pain. Being Courageous is about being able to take a learner’s mindset. Looking at the world through the lens of someone who’s only impressed by how much they can grow, learn and develop and they will do whatever it takes to achieve these goals.
5.Take the lead, in times when the world needs a lead, focus on having a growth mindset, avoid gossip, negative and pessimistic thinking and step up and do the right thing, Courage is about developing your own moral conscious, and having that internal guide to do what is right not what is easy.
Check out the Be The Lion Course Here to learn how to take your life to the next level, discover your bigger vision and act on it.
