Courage is seeing the possible and moving towards it.
When we think of the word courage, we know it’s often reserved for great feats of accomplishment, taking risks, or overcoming fear. However, what if you look for courage by simply choosing to move forward and not being afraid to FALL?
NOTE: That does not say FAIL!
Why is it many people don’t choose to move forward or make a change?
Most often, they don’t believe they have the courage to do it or don’t know where to look for courage. The thing is, courage is right there in all of us.
Don’t worry; you don’t have to jump out of a plane to find it (see below). All you need to do is take ONE step in a new direction and not be afraid to fall.
When I decided to step away from my first career, the word I often heard was courage. “you are so courageous to do this,” “I wish I had the courage you do,” “I would never have the courage to…”
I was choosing to leave a job where I made good money and had a very successful business, but I knew it just wasn’t enough.
I had achieved my dream. I purchased my medical practice at the age of 29 and built it into one of the most respected in my specialty in the Chicagoland area.
I hit the mark, achieved the goals, had the success, and of course, the “stuff.” Shouldn’t that be enough? It wasn’t for me. What about you?
Are you in that place where you look around at your life and say, wow! This is a great life I’ve built. Do you feel it’s either too much or even that it doesn’t feel like enough? Maybe it feels like something is missing, or perhaps it just doesn’t feel like you anymore.
This is an unexpected place where you need to look for courage too.
I had the big house, the summer home, the winter home and, the cars (tough, I know.) But what I realized deep down is, I wasn’t challenged anymore.
Challenge, for me, is living, and it felt like I had stopped living. I enjoyed working incredibly hard, was happy and successful, but I needed to be living my NEXT dream.
Choosing to Move Forward
I can clearly remember the moment two years ago when I was reading the book Beyond Grit by Dr. Cindra Kamphoff and realized I had stopped dreaming.
Chapter 4 is titled Dream for a Living. It is only four pages long, but that moment changed the context of my life. I stopped reading, immediately wrote, “start dreaming again,” and just like that, things changed for me. That was me choosing to move forward.
“Age, experience, and responsibilities don’t have to diminish your dreams.”
~Cindra Kamphoff, Ph.D.
When someone isn’t successful, they are often expected to change direction.
What about when we are successful? In reality, for those who are successful, taking a step in a new direction is just as important and also takes courage.
There is nothing wrong in looking for more. Who you are right now isn’t who you have to be in the future.
Dare To FALL
A couple of years ago, as I was preparing for my 4th Ironman triathlon, I developed Overtraining Syndrome. In essence, my body was under too much stress and needed a break. I wasn’t allowed to race.
After nearly a year of intense training, I would be sitting on the sidelines.
I knew the day of the race would be difficult. Not being able to participate after all the work I had put into my training was hard.
The night before the race, I decided I needed to do something BIG and challenging to take my mind off not being able to race. Sky Diving!
The next morning instead of swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running 26.2, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at 15,000 feet.
Just as I was getting to the doorway of the plane, the instructor yelled out, “you don’t seem nervous at all.” And I wasn’t.
Some would say it takes courage to push yourself out of an open airplane door. For me, it was what I was there to do. I had the courage and dared to fall.
Falling isn’t the same as Failing
Failing isn’t easy for anyone, but we know it’s a way to grow.
Those who are the most successful are often those who are willing to take the risk. They may risk failing, but I believe a better term to use is falling.
What do I mean by FALLING? Falling is defined as moving from a higher to lower level, often rapidly and without control.
Falling is merely a change in position. I’m sure you’ve had times where things change quickly, and you don’t feel in control.
But what if you looked at courage as a change of position instead of a fail? It seems a lot easier to get back up, doesn’t it?
One Letter Can Change Your Limits
One of my purposes at headformance is to help those who put limits on themselves because they are afraid they will fail.
If we change the terminology in our mind to FALL, does it feel different? Let’s look at it.
I am going to do… I might FAIL
I am going to do… I might FALL
Those two words may only be ONE letter different, but they read dramatically different. Which sounds better to you?
We don’t always know how far the fall might be. In looking back at my decision to find my NEXT, I had a long way to fall. Maybe even more than my day of skydiving!
The headline reads, “Well respected physician decides to give it all up to find more adventure and start a blog.”
It is possible “crazy” might be the words used for this one, but looking back, it is now more apparent to me why I heard the word courage so often.
I was letting go of what I knew to move into a scary unknown place to discover more. I could do it because I looked at it merely as a taking a step forward.
What’s Your Courage?
It takes courage to look at ourselves to see what drives us, what fuels us, and what terrifies us. And then use that information to move forward.
That place of moving forward and taking a chance to fall is where courage is found.
Keep in mind courage doesn’t have to come from physical challenges or life-changing decisions. It takes courage to change your diet, go to the gym for the first time, go out for a hike or walk by yourself, and it also takes courage to change your mindset.
When everything and everyone says, stop, and you keep going. That takes courage.
Moving through obstacles that have prevented others? Yep, that’s courage too.
It also takes courage to persevere. When others think it’s too hard, too hot, too inconvenient, and you keep going, that’s courage.
Those little wins create even greater courage for the next challenge.
This is where those who use courage and strive to be better each day set themselves and their lives apart.
Letting go of what you know is safe to discover what can be, is a scary but amazing place.
The freedom and confidence that follows can be life-changing. This is the place I am passionate about helping others find.
Failure is not an Option
Take just a moment to think of a time when you had courage. Don’t just try to remember it, close your eyes and visualize it right now.
What did it feel like physically? Did you feel it in the pit of your stomach? Did you feel pressure in your chest? How about the rest of your body? Tingling in your hands, a dry mouth? Was your heart racing?
Those physiologic signs tell you what you are about to do or say takes courage.
Is your example above a physical feat? Sometimes it’s a bit easy to default to those physical times when we think of courage.
If so, think of another time that didn’t involve a physical challenge. By the way, if you didn’t stop in the paragraph above to think of a time you chose courage over fear, do it now!
Now think about after your experience of courage.
How did it feel? This time think through the emotions. Did you feel relieved, excited, calm, defeated, or proud?
This is key. Was FAILURE one of those emotions?
Even if things didn’t go as planned, I’m willing to bet failure was not one of your initial emotions.
While it might be overused, there is truth in the statement that the failure is in not trying.
Use Your Courage to Look for More
What about right now? Do you have a decision or something that you are unsure about? Think through how you can move forward using your courage by not being afraid to FALL.
Do that big thing sooner rather than later. There is no reason to wait. You want that person to arrive as quickly as possible.
Doing something that scares you is hard, but I guarantee it will change you.
Once you break through your limiting thoughts and take on that challenge, you will have a new sense and measurement of self. That is a fantastic gift.
The Courage to Fall
When I jumped out of that airplane, it in many ways prepared me for jumping from my first career. I risked a very long fall.
When you summon the courage to act, you might fall, but guess what? You are not going to FAIL.
If you fall backward, get up and start moving forward again.
If you fall down, get your butt up off the ground.
If you fall forward, you might find a whole new life full of CHALLENGE, make it your purpose to INSPIRE others to do the same, and work harder than ever to IMPACT the world.
Let’s take a step toward your Next!
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