Learn, Share, Grow – Cultivate Courage

Below is a lesson from mindful.org on tips to cultivating courage, as well as our key learning.

The Blue Courage team is dedicated to continual learning and growth.  We have adopted a concept from Simon Sinek’s Start With Why team called “Learn, Share, Grow”.  We are constantly finding great articles, videos, and readings that have so much learning.  As we learn new and great things, this new knowledge should be shared for everyone to then grow from.

Five Ways to Cultivate Courage

By Shelly Tygielski

Courage is the savior that marches alongside us when fear shows up. It can inspire bursts of boldness that help us speak our minds, follow our hearts, and bare our souls to others. Without it, we can’t grow or thrive. 

Sometimes we get caught up in the mistaken notion that being courageous means overcoming fear. But courage isn’t looking past fear; it’s recognizing and even embracing it. Recently I’ve witnessed this seeming paradox in families affected by the unspeakable trauma of losing a child to a mass shooting. 

Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s being scared, worried, unsure, and ready to run, and yet still finding a way to do what you really want to do, what others need you to do, or what you believe is right—despite all that fear. 

Continue reading here.

Key Learnings:

• Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s being scared, worried, unsure, and ready to run, and yet still finding a way to do what you really want to do, what others need you to do, or what you believe is right—despite all that fear. 
• Tips that help cultivate courage:
  1. Make fear your friend – Stop blaming fear for stopping you. When you can finally accept fears and invite them in, it makes courage more accessible.
  2. Embrace courage as a mindful response to fear – Fears are necessary—they can propel us to new heights if we choose to respond to them mindfully instead of react to them blindly.
  3. Choose to be bold by simply committing to action – By speaking it, owning it, and having others hold you accountable and inviting them to lift you in support, you will eventually work up the courage to act on this bold commitment.
  4. Be vulnerable – Sharing your fears and anxieties with others can make them seem far less scary and insurmountable. You aren’t alone.
  5. Do it for others – When our actions impact more than our own lives, the ripple effect, including inspiring others to move to action, can provide us with a great sense of empowerment.