There is no doubt that attaining success in any and every area of life takes courage. Courage is the inner strength that is mustered up to move one up and out of a place of fear and immobility into action.
It’s important to understand the difference between Action versus Reaction. It takes courage to take action. Action is positive proactive movement towards attaining one’s desired outcomes and borne out of rational analysis. Reaction conversely, characterizes a lack of courage. It is a loss of impulse control, and is a state of over-emotionalism and irrationalism.
Success is the result of having the ability to control your behavior so that all your actions taken are a result of a conscious decision to live courageously. Living courageously means making a commitment to yourself to behave reasonably, rationally, and consistently, both internally and externally, to rigorously honor the truth of your own self, convictions, values and goals.
Here are the 8 Attributes You Need to Have the Courage to Succeed:
- Be Truthful. The saying “Then you will know Truth, and the Truth will set you free” is probably the most profound prophetic statement of how to achieve a successful life. The Truth is the laser that breaks through all emotional blindness, breaks down barriers and shines a light on the way forward to success. Think, speak, and act the truth.
- Embrace Change. Change is constant, whether we like it or not. You can be an agent and victor of change or the victim of someone else’s ability to cause change. Successful people chose to be a positive agent of change in their own and others’ lives.
- Be Okay with Saying No. “No” is a complete sentence. It takes courage not to people please, but it is necessary to say no to what isn’t a fit for you, your values and goals. A fear of saying no is a fear of rejection. But if you reject yourself, you’re rejecting courage and success.
- Live the Life of Your Own Choosing. Doesn’t succumb to the expectations of others on how they should live their own life.
- Take Calculated Risks. Takes well-thought out, researched risks. One who does not take calculated risks cannot progress. Smart risk taking gets easier with each risk taken. The key is to take that first leap of faith.
- Be Willing to Be and Do Different. Those who succeed the most at life are those who are bold in allowing themselves to be different and do things differently than those who have gone before them. The rewards for daring to be different are countess in both inner and outer riches.
- Endurance. Have the determination to keep going no matter what. Lives by the slogan “rest if you must, but don’t you quit”. Doesn’t count how many times they get knocked down, but how many times they get up.
- Faith. At the end of the day, courage takes faith. Faith comes from consciously connecting to a supreme power source that provides inspiration, motivation and a promise that if you do the right thing, positive outcomes are guaranteed.
“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” –John Wayne, an icon of True Grit
In Closing my shocking confession: I was scared to death. My battery of top advisors was telling me to give in to the demands of a mega corporation in spite of their fraudulent and bullying behavior. My shocked rebuttal was “but, but… that would be accepting the unacceptable and would embolden them to continue to do this to others.” I told them I had to do the “right thing”. Advisors told me that it would “ruin” me in every way and rob me of all my financial resources. I sat in prayer and meditation. I knew I had to do the right thing no matter what and have the faith that “the truth would set me free.” I took the bold and shocking move that many others did not have the courage to take. I exposed the behavior of the responsible person to the utmost regulating authority. I waited…there were more threats, more bullying. I held strong. Then, the miracle happened. The person was fired from a top tier tenured executive position by the founder of the company! I received an outpouring of thanks from those within the company. Not only had clients of the company endured this unacceptable behavior, but so had the other employees in the company! I didn’t lose. I won. Courage paid off, not only for me, but countless others.