How to have more courage? More courage, please!

Below, I present some techniques for building courage. I based my article on some research I did only. Take this with caution; this is not to be taken as a guide but rather as a personal exploration of what I could do in order to be braver.

First, what is courage?

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” – Winston Churchill

“The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.” — Stephen King

What is fear?

I can’t find a detailed quote, but I heard this first from Cătălin Zaharia, I think:

We are the descendents of the people who ran away from the wolves.

So, fear can be good; if you keep charging at wolves, you might get into trouble.

Should you avoid fear at all costs?

Fear is a nice response to threatening situations.

From fear, we get: Freeze!-Fight!-Flight!

And we live to see the next day, like in the example below (the situation changes 100% afterward, they actually go to battle):

– William Wallace: Will you fight?
– (crowd) No!
– (individual) Against that? No! We will run! And we will live!

Source: Braveheart: Freedom Speech – YouTube.

What are some reasons for fear?

Not winning – fearing failure or rejection;
Not wishing to change – change or uncertainty of the future;
Other’s reactions – being judged or ridiculed.

How to beat your fears and have more courage?

The list below doesn’t come from me, as a professional, but from me, as a person going through life and then reading some things online. It should not be taken as a guide:

Know yourself – This is a key aspect in life; you need to know yourself and make the best decision;
Identify what scares you – First, let’s start with the issue – what drives you, what makes you fearful?;
What’s your worst fear? – Once you know what scares you, put your finger on your worst fear; imagining your worst fear can help you see that it is not that big of a problem;
Acknowledge your fear – Admit there’s an issue, and start focusing on that;
Describe your fears – Put them out there – in a journal, in a conversation with a close friend;
Identify your strengths – See what your strong points are and how these can help you with your fears;
Know your limits – Accept that you can’t solve all the problems on your own;
Know others (resources, objects, people) – You’ll next some external help; what form could this take?
Know the situation (know your options) – See the context; the fears are not sealed in a vacuum; see the surroundings;
Clarify your values – You’ll need to react to fears in such a way that is aligned with your personal values;
Have a compelling why – Why do you want to fight your fears? Find an answer to this;
Look for the heroes – See who you can model – What other people handled the situation better than you?
Examine different scenarios – What can you do? What are your options?
Take small brave steps – Don’t start with the elephant; (“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – via)
Confront your fear – Take action, do the opposite; afraid of dogs? Try to be around them; afraid of a path? Try taking it, nevertheless;
Make confronting fear it a habit – Once you’ve done a choice once, try to turn it into a habit;
Celebrate courageous actions – Give yourself a pat on the shoulder when you have some success, no matter how small;
Exercise 20 seconds of insane courage – From time to time (how about once a week?) try something really out of your comfort zone; this might build confidence;
Think positively (Believe in yourself) – Don’t put the problems and errors in front of you; consider you’ll succeed;
Say “I love you” – “When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it.” ― Caitlyn Siehl, Literary Sexts: A Collection of Short & Sexy Love Poems;
See yourself as courageous (Placebo effect) – If you imagine things your way, being brave and successful, you might have bigger chances of making a dream come true; but what am I saying? Let’s use Placebo and say you’ll surely succeed by doing this;
Carry a talisman (Placebo effect) – If you can bring an external object or entity and involve it in the process, and if you think this will help, this might actually do;
Embrace failure (Don’t aim for perfection) – Accept some failure, and don’t expect things to go 100% perfect;
Continue to learn – Failed once? Learn from it, and avoid repeating the mistakes;
Keep trying – Don’t build a task (do it, fail, stop); instead – build a system (do it, fail; do it again, fail; do it again until you succeed; never ever stop); “… never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense” (America’s National Churchill Museum | Never Give In, Never, Never, Never)
Get support and accountability with coaching – There are people who are trained in helping others succeed with their plans; get their support;