What role does courage play in your daily life? Here are a few courage-related posts you may have missed. Click the link to read the message.
“Become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid.”
“Do one thing each day that scares you.”
“You can’t leave a footprint that lasts if you’re always walking on tiptoe.”
Image from selfhypnosis.com
It is pleasant to consider the profession of coaching as a form of healthcare for the human soul.
So are the skills of teaching, mentoring, counseling, parenting, and even friendship.
What other types of relationships can you describe that induce, elicit, and awaken hope and courage in others?
How can and will you use your healing powers to generate greater possibilities and hopeful courage in those for whom you care?
Image from JumpCloud
Relationships and connecting with others are among the most valuable skills any of us can have. Books, blogs, podcasts, seminars, and other resources on this subject abound, yet most of us fall short of the level of excellence and mastery we desire.
Today’s quote points to the importance of experiencing one another at a far deeper level than many of us are willing to go. We’re afraid because of the level of openness and vulnerability inherent in the depths those relationships require.
How can and will you be more courageous to express your core beliefs, values, and emotions to deepen your most valued relationships?
Image from www.dailymail.co.uk
The ostrich doesn’t really bury its head in the sand —it wouldn’t be able to breathe! But the female ostrich does dig holes in the dirt as nests for her eggs. Occasionally, she’ll put her head in the hole and turn her eggs.
People, on the other hand, often “bury their heads in the sand,” ignoring problems for long periods of time, hoping they will simply go away.
What issue or problem have you been avoiding, professionally or personally? Where would summoning the courage to take this issue “head on” make the biggest difference?
Image from Flickr by Matt Knoth
I am currently writing a chapter for a book on personal development and soul transformation with 30 other authors. My chapter covers the concept of Personal Mastery, which has been of interest to me my entire life. I’ve even developed my own coaching program I call Personal Excellence Training, to help others reach their next level of achievement.
One key to the personal mastery journey of virtually everyone I’ve studied is the bold and often courageous pursuit of authentic gifts, talents, and interests that make their hearts sing. Their efforts at self-expression were frequently met with considerable resistance and outright criticism from their peers and the general public.
Perhaps they were simply singing their own special tune, one that was ahead of its time, that many did not yet embrace or understand.
Where in your personal or professional pursuits is it time to be even bolder and courageous, voicing your special tune regardless of whether others listen, or what they think?
Image from Flickr by Blondinrikard Froberg
If I double-dared you, would you be doubly happy? The relationship between risk and reward is a topic of interest to many. Stories abound in the media, especially when you examine people who have achieved great wealth or who have lost everything—sometimes repeatedly.
But what about happiness? How does an orientation to risk-taking correlate to moving the needle on the happy meter? This idea fits perfectly with the concept of coaching, in which an individual acknowledges a personal or professional future they wish to realize.
To do so, however, requires taking the risk of leaving their current, often safe and secure realities for some more desired vision they see for themselves. Not to do so is considered by many the biggest reason for a life of regret, which no one would desire.
Where and in what ways could you take a more daring approach to your days, to lead a more interesting, exciting, and happier life?
Consider picking up a copy of Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar to examine other ideas to pursue greater happiness.
Image from Flickr by Tambako the Jaguar
Take an inventory of your life’s greatest moments—the ones where you did or were part of something remarkable, noteworthy, and of course, memorable. What were you doing at the time? I would guess that on many of these occasions you were reaching for some goal, striving for something you desired, or operating beyond your comfort zone inspired by a high-priority commitment.
Rarely do great accomplishments occur when we simply move day-to-day, grazing on the same grasses of our personal or professional worlds.
How and in what ways can you rally your inner lion to courageously roar, chase, and pounce on the successes you desire?
Photo from Boulder Writers Workshop
A few weeks ago my wife Wendy and I had a movie marathon. We saw four moves over the course of one weekend. One was Disney’s new, and I would say highly improved, Cinderella.
The theme of the new Cinderella was to have courage and be kind, not simply to marry the handsome prince and live “happily ever after.”
This advice is all the more timely given the fact that women still earn only 78% of what their male counterparts earn. They still hold only a modest percentage of leadership roles within the business world.
Where in your professional and personal worlds could you encourage and support your daughters, sons, friends, and colleagues to have more courage and be kinder in their efforts? What can you do to help them shatter the “glass ceilings” they may encounter, so they can live a more accomplished and satisfying life?
Photo from Flickr by Tamable the Jaguar
The political definition of appeasement is “a diplomatic policy of making various forms of concessions to an enemy power in order to avoid conflict.” A notable example was between Great Britain and Nazi Germany in the late 1930s.
A more general definition involves yielding or conceding to the demands of a nation, group or person in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.
Today, I suggest that you examine where and at what potential benefit or cost do you see examples of appeasement in your professional or personal lives.
Determine where you are simply feeding the alligators in your world, hoping they will eat you last. In what situations would a courageous, principled stance be the way to go?
Photo from Flickr by dekade
As you close out January, take a moment to look back at 2014 and the first month of 2015. How bold and courageous have you been in the pursuit of your professional or personal goals?
Should you realize that you have been tiptoeing around and playing it too safe, determine how this year will be different.
On what issues and projects will you take a bold stance to leave lasting footprints you will look back on next year with pride?