What would you do if you knew you wouldn’t fail, come what may?
Sounds enticing, right? With guaranteed success, you might handle opening up a new business, learn a musical instrument you have always wanted to try or tell your seniors that you desire a promotion.
But in the real world, fear of failure keeps us from pursuing our dreams. Let’s face it – being brave and taking risks is challenging.
Ponder upon how fear is holding you back in your life, both personally and professionally. For example, maybe you have a fear of the unknown or the possibility of failure. However, giving in to your fears might hinder you from pursuing ambitious goals that propel you to move forward.
However, here’s the good news – you can learn how to be brave if you constantly push yourself outside your comfort zone. If being brave doesn’t come naturally to you, take help from this guide!
Today, we will discuss the difference courage makes in your life and share some actionable tips on how to be brave so that you become the fearless version of yourself.
The Significance Of Being Brave
You find things convenient in your comfort zone. So, what’s the point of leaving that haven to pursue courage?
Well, it is necessary! Knowing how to be brave can significantly impact your personal and professional life. Here’s how!
- Personal Life
Irrespective of who you are or what goals you have, courage is required in your daily life. Ranging from having an honest conversation to pursuing your dreams – everything needs courage.
With that said, you must know that being brave doesn’t mean a grand gesture (no, we aren’t talking about skydiving or paragliding!). Instead, calmly addressing your thoughts and establishing boundaries is what we intend to say.
Having the courage to do difficult but necessary things makes your personal life more meaningful. Also, you can’t let fear or self-consciousness hold you back from achieving your goals.
- Professional Life
When it comes to professional life, every single bit of bravery can pay dividends. But there’s a big payoff to your career as well. Being brave can lead you down an ambitious and fulfilling career path.
For instance, you might not enjoy your current corporate job & dream of working for a nonprofit instead. However, while you might like to quit your present job and take the nonprofit one, at the same time, you are afraid that the pay will be lower and involvement with less recognized organizations would be a wrong career move.
These fears are understandable, but ignoring your intuition and going blindly after your passion can result in avoiding a career that might be more fulfilling for you.
Moreover, people often don’t pursue their dreams because they suffer from imposter syndrome, i.e., they think they aren’t good enough. So, you can move past this negative thinking by focusing on the ideas and skills you bring. Then, with an optimistic mindset and self-confidence, you will be able to have the courage to raise your hand for leadership roles or other professional responsibilities that you desire!
Also Read: How To Believe In Yourself When The Going Gets Tough
How To Be Brave: Strategies To Muster Up Courage!
We assume you are ready to be brave! So you are prepared to display some courage personally and professionally. But rest assured, being brave doesn’t necessarily have to be synonymous with being reckless.
Instead, it includes a thoughtful and strategic approach to incorporate more confidence in your everyday life.
Take a look at the following steps you can take, not just to pretend to be brave, but use your life experiences to find the real source of courage within yourself.
- Acknowledge Your Fears
Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the ability to acknowledge your fear and move past it. Some people hold the opinion that the best way to conquer your fear is to ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist. Well, that’s an unhealthy way to deal with your fears!
Ignoring your fears makes them seem more scary and unmanageable in the long run.
Therefore, the first step to bravery is accepting your fear. Then, dig into the root cause of your anxiety, i.e., why does that specific person or situation make you fearful?
Let’s say you have a paralyzing fear of public speaking. Thus, you can use various techniques to get down to the root cause of your apprehension.
Just ask, ‘WHY’, and you will get your answers!
- Challenge Your Negative Thoughts
If you ever come across a thought like, ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘What if they think it’s a dumb idea?’, then you are not alone! Many times negative thoughts hold people back from taking a brave step. And eventually, this results in self-sabotage!
Don’t give your negativity much weight. Instead, question those negative thoughts! Then, look at all the facts that go directly against your negative thinking.
Thus, take a holistic look at the situation without letting your uncertainty or doubts cloud your judgment. After all, your goals might not be unrealistic as you might believe them to be!
- Use Positive Self-Talk
In continuation to the previous point, make sure that you keep motivating yourself.
If you are hard on yourself every time you make a mistake or aren’t sure what to do next, you will never want to put yourself in situations that will help you grow. You just need to trust yourself through the process and listen to your intuition.
See, mistakes will inevitably happen while trying to muster up the courage. So, use those bumps, learn from them, and maintain a positive mindset.
You can be your own cheerleader; therefore, give yourself the grace and encouragement you deserve!
- Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
Here’s the truth: when you make a brave decision, you set yourself up for potential discomfort.
But discomfort isn’t something to be afraid of. Instead, it’s part of having courage. So, lean into the unfamiliar conditions and start becoming comfortable with the unknown & the thrill that arrives with it.
This will help you get accustomed to the uncertainty that comes with your courage to make unconventional decisions. After all, once you’ve gotten through an uncomfortable situation, you will get over it every single time!
- Accept The Possibility Of Future
Failure is an ominous word to many, but that shouldn’t be the case! It can seem to be a bit scary, but it teaches you a lot and helps you get closer to reaching your dreams.
When your plans don’t pan out, take the opportunity to assess what went wrong and what can be worked upon so the mistake doesn’t happen again. Moreover, seeing each setback as a learning opportunity can help you build resilience.
Always know that failure will happen at some point or the other, but don’t let it hold you back. Instead, go after your dreams and accept that failure may or may not occur. Thus, the bravest thing you can do upon failing is to buck yourself up and try again!
Conquer The Fear That Holds You Back!
How to be brave – this question has many answers, and with each answer, you get a different perspective!
While you can plan for the future and encourage yourself, the best way to become brave is by doing the things you are scared to do. Moreover, having courage doesn’t mean you are not afraid. Instead, it means you won’t let your fears hold you back.
Take small steps every day, put yourself out there, and get close to where you wish to end up personally & professionally. You might even surprise yourself with what you can achieve!
Suggested Read: How To Enjoy Life
