How to Have Courage
29 Jan 2020 · 15 min
Brendon TEST Burchard talks courage with Sam. He breaks it into four moves: speaking up for yourself and others, pushing past your goals, adopting a role model mindset, and asking for help consistently.
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It's Brendon Burchard. And welcome to another episode of the Brendon show.
What's up, my friends? I hope you're having an incredible and high performing day. It's Brendan. Let's talk about courage today. You know, I've been asked about this so many times after my book high performance habits came out, where we identified that one of the most important things that high performers really do in their life is demonstrate courage. But how do you demonstrate courage right now when there's so much judgment out there, so much negative energy, so many people getting upset and so many people, you know, know, throwing accusations and commenting negatively on you? When you have all these big goals, you have these big ambitions, it's that time of year where you're setting goals and you're getting really serious about it. But taking action, being bold, doing hard things, you and I both know that's difficult. You know, it brings about that fear that if you're going to be bold and you're going to be courageous, you're going to do something that really extends you beyond your comfort zone. You're going to risk failure, you're going to risk being judged, you're going to risk being rejected, you're going to risk ruin. And that's the challenge. Like we all would love to say, hey, I'm a courageous person. You know, I really go for it. I achieve my goals. I stretch beyond the comfort zone. Oh, my gosh. How amazing would that be? But it's hard, and I don't want to kind of say that it's not because I think the truth is a lot of people don't realize how scary it can be to really go for it every day. So I thought I'd share just four big ideas about courage with you today, and I hope that will really serve you. So let's talk courage. First thing you need to know if you want to be more courageous in your life, number one thing you have to do is you have to speak up more for yourself and share your real thoughts, feelings, dreams, desires, and needs with other. More with other people more consistently. And I know you guys know this is important, right? How do you be courageous? You start speaking up for yourself more. I mean, when we did our research on high performers, this was, like, one of my very favorite findings that we had, which is that courage wasn't like, people just, you know, jumping in the river and saving babies kind of stuff. You know, that those physical acts of, like, amazing courage. I mean, it's not that those aren't There. But the reality is the courage that made people succeed over the long term was more that on a consistent and daily basis, they spoke up for themselves. It was like the high performers were the ones in the meeting saying, hey, I've got an idea. They were more willing to raise their hand, express their truth, but they were also more willing to speak up for other people, too. So it's not just speaking up for yourself, saying, hey, I want this. Hey, I need that. It's also speaking up for other people. Hey, hey, did you hear what this person over here said? Hey, she's trying to get that across to you. And speaking up for other people on a more consistent basis develops courage. Right. And it also is, frankly, an expression of your truth. You know, I really believe that real, like, daily courage is expressing more of our truth to the world. It's living more of an authentic and expressive life. Because you and I both know how many people out there are kind of faking it or are holding back, silent about their own passions, their own dreams, their own heartaches. And so what happens? They feel insanely alone. They feel disconnected. And because they're suffering in their own silence by not speaking up for themselves, what are the odds of them then being courageous when it's time to speak up for somebody else? If they won't speak up and act for themselves in living an authentic life, what's the odds that they're going to when it's time to take some real bold action, that they're going to do it? Because, remember, every day, my friends, you are conditioning yourself for a bold, expressive, courageous life or not. The way that you express yourself is either setting you up for success over the long term or it's holding back. And I know you all know that. And courage is not about, hey, I never feel the fear. It's like, hey, no. You can feel the fear. You can feel the anxiety. You can feel the doubt. But sometimes those things are just, you know, signals to be attentive and. And present and thoughtful in your next steps. It doesn't mean don't do it. Fear can be a great ally in helping, like, really marshal your attention and your energies to do something well. So I hope that helps you think through it. Your first act, if you are going to be more courageous over the long term, is to speak up more for yourself and for other people. Second, big idea. You must consistently surpass your goals. You got to train yourself to surpass your goals. So what does that presuppose? Well, it presupposes you're Setting goals, it presupposes that you are setting the goals, you are writing those goals down and every single day you revisit those goals and you are tracking and managing them in such a way you actually know if you achieve them. Courage happens because we've got some momentum behind us too. And when we feel like we are surpassing our goals on a consistent basis, what does that develop? Confidence. And when we've got confidence in self, we know we are competent, we know we are capable. We know we are going to get it done because we've done it over and over and over again. Well, then when that major challenge comes up that does require courage, requires a real leap out of your comfort zone. That base of confidence and capability comes into play and you act. Don't wait for that. Like that time where you get your break. Don't wait for that time when suddenly you have to be on and hope that you'll just be able to deliver. No condition being on. Condition stepping outside the comfort zone, condition taking action, stepping up. Because if you'll condition it on a more consistent basis with the small things every day of achieving the small goals of protecting your boundaries, of working towards your priorities, of being on your A game on a consistent basis for the little things, then when that big break comes up, that big scary thing comes up, man, you step right up and knock through that courage ceiling. Third, big idea for you is, and I talk a lot about this in all of my work and I'm really trying to push it this year. So I hope you guys will help share this message, share these videos I'm doing for you, really be part of this community in hpx. And that is this Adopt the role model mindset. I was literally just talking about this with our community yesterday. You've got to adopt the role model mindset. You know, so often like our comforts and our pleasures and what makes us happy, you know, for ourselves in a selfish way also boxes us in that little comfort zone. But when we recognize that, oh my gosh, people are watching, I can be an influencer, I can be a leader. I can be a role model for other people, you start stepping up even when you don't feel like it. You know, so many acts of courage that people see me do and they're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe you do that, Brendon. You know, how do you step on stage in front of all these people? How are you always expressing yourself and writing your books and doing these videos and all these other things? And people think it's like, you know, I have some gift. And the truth is, you. If I have a gift, it's the mindset of service and role modeling. I know that by challenging myself to be a role model, that if I can just challenge myself to be consistent and to be inspiring and to be a person of integrity and to demonstrate and you guys get to see me live my dreams as a writer and high performance coach and doing this influencer stuff. If you see me doing it on a consistent basis, what happens? Well, maybe. Maybe it inspires you. Maybe, you know, you change your life. You help other people achieve their goals or achieve their dreams. We create a community of people who are really role models. And I just feel like when I'm aware that I serve as a role model for other people, I'm more likely to step up the plate when it's scary. You know, I'm more likely to be disciplined. I'm more likely to be consistent in being on my A game, and the more consistent I'm on my A game because I know other people are watching me as a role model. Guess what? When that big challenge comes up, it's more natural to step up. And you guys know, many of you will do so much for other people than you'll do for yourself. You know, that's to be true. So my suggestion, if I may, is that, hey, you know, be aware of that. Be thoughtful of that. Somebody needs to see you be extraordinary. And when you realize that people need to see you extraordinary all the time, guess what? You get in at it. Last big idea. So encourage. I said, number one, you got to speak up for yourself and speak up for other people more often. It's totally vital. Number two, you have to surpass your goals. So you got to keep setting the goals, working the goals, passing them, celebrating it, and integrating those wins. When you're having wins, integrate it in your identity so you can have more confidence, too. My last big idea. Number four, ask for help way more often. Like, way more often. You know, I know Jenna's dealt with this. I've dealt with this. So many people making big moves in our lives where we do we doubt ourselves or we don't know if we can add value or we get in that place where, like, I don't know exactly what to do here. Your job is to ask for help way more often. And listen, this is the most important thing in courage. The odd thing is we all think, oh, it's so courageous to ask for help when we need it. You know, the funny thing is the flip side of that coin. It's extraordinarily courageous to ask for help when you don't need it. And what do I mean by that? I mean, if you really want to go to another level, like, listen, many of you watching, you're high achieving, you're happy, you're successful, things are going great, but you stop sharing and asking for help. So you get in a lane and you don't even know you're playing in a lane that's below your potential. Because when you're not asking for help all the time, what ends up happening is, especially if you're successful, you think you're doing great and you don't even have the perspective of, of other people doing more amazing things. Or maybe they got a slight tweak on it. Like, if you hang out with me, you will know immediately I am Mr. Ask you a million questions. And I'm always like, I'm trying to do this. What should I do? Hey, I'm thinking about doing that. What should I do? Hey, I have an idea. What would you do? So even though I have achievements and success in my life and people look to me, I'm still asking everybody around me like, hey, what would you do in this situation? Always asking for help. Even though it's not like begging or placating or like, oh, woe is me help. No, it's actually like, I'm thinking about doing this idea. What would you recommend that's asking for help as well. So, yes, ask for help when you're down in the dumps. Ask for help when you're sad, ask for help when you don't have a clue. But also keep asking for help when you're on a roll, when you have momentum, when you have success. That's how high performers maintain success over the long term. Because they're always collecting new data and that new information is helping them make better decisions. And as they make better decisions, they achieve more goals. And as they achieve more goals, they get on that roll. And now courage is so much more easy because they know they're not going it alone and they're doing the right things more consistently because the more you do the wrong things or get less results, of course that's going to impact your courage. So we need you to have that momentum of moving forward. And a lot of that comes from asking for help and insight. Others. Those are my four big ideas on Courage Day. Speak up and share more. Speak up for other people as well. Number two, surpass your goals, which means you got to track them and work towards them. Number three adopt the role model mindset because people are watching and you'll be on your A game for other people and when you're being a role model you'll be more courageous. Number four ask for help more often including when you're on a roll. If you're ready to take your life.
To a whole new level, make sure you grab my book High Performance Habits How Extraordinary People Become that Way. It's available on Amazon right now and.
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Sam.