Our
Mission:
To help people
live happy, successful lives; to harness their natural power and live
to their full potential.
"The only
thing we have to fear is fear itself." ----- Franklin D. Roosevelt
EXTRAORDINARY
COURAGE
Sometimes things
come up in life that cause us to give thought to simple concepts we
might otherwise not pay much attention to, and this happened to me
again very recently.
It began when I was asked to speak to an organization that had the
intriguing annual theme of "Living an Extraordinary Life" and
12 monthly sub-themes supporting it. Each month there were to be 4
speakers, one each week, whose topics were to support these themes.
The theme for the month of my talk was "Extraordinary Courage"
and the specific topic I chose was "Everyday Courage". I
decided on this topic only after giving considerable thought to what it
means to live a truly extraordinary life.
Experience has taught me that although everyday courage is
seldom sexy or dramatic, like the stuff of movies, it nonetheless is
critical to what we might think of as extraordinary courage,
which in turn is a requirement for living an extraordinary life.
It completes the circle so to speak.
Let me explain.
Living an extraordinary life is often associated with bold moves, risk
taking, and living on the edge … living well outside of normal
comfort zones. Few people actually do this, which is why a life so
lived is considered extraordinary.
To live in this way one must be willing to do the unusual, go against
the norm, perhaps risk present position, popularity or security. It's
so much easier not to rock the boat and to stay with the
status quo, so this requires great courage, far more than typically
demonstrated by most. Because of this, such courage is considered
extraordinary.
But where does this extraordinary courage come from? Well typically it doesn't
come about in a moment of blazing glory. Instead, it is often a
by-product of the accumulation of many, many seemingly insignificant
daily choices. It just sort of creeps up on you.
Developing such courage actually begins the moment you sit down and
have a heart to heart with yourself, giving serious thought to who you
aspire to be as a person, as a human being. You first identify the
character traits you wish to consciously develop in yourself, as well
as those you will choose to leave behind, and then immediately begin
doing your very best to think and behave as if you already were that
person.
The process continues as you take the next step, that of identifying
and clarifying the values and guiding principles by which you will
choose to live your life. These are not those handed down or imposed
upon you, but rather those you consciously select and make yours.
From that moment on the combination of your values and guiding
principles, and who you aspire to be as a person, become a powerful
guiding light up to which you can hold all challenging issues and
difficult decisions in order to reveal their true nature and determine
their appropriateness for you. There will opportunities to do this many
times each day, and on each occasion it will quickly become evident as
to what is or is not a good personal fit.
This will be a practice or training time in regards to developing new
ways of thinking and behaving that are congruent with your values,
guiding principles and who you aspire to be … you will be
experiencing being true to you rather than to society's
concept of who and what you should be, want or have.
Sticking with this however requires some degree of discipline and this
is where everyday courage comes in, because exercising
discipline does take courage. Not HUGE courage, just everyday courage.
It takes courage to win those small battles within yourself but it's
totally worth it, because with each victory you gain confidence and
feel even more motivated to continue down this path you've chosen.
Within a reasonable time you will discover that you are consistently,
naturally and almost effortlessly thinking and behaving in a manner
consistent with your new loftier objectives, and that feels really
good. Your confidence and trust in you climbs higher and
higher. Neediness and fears fall away, leaving you feeling incredibly
more capable than ever before.
Then along comes one of those larger, defining moments … a
moment requiring a difficult decision, perhaps a moment asking you to
stand out from the norm in some significant way, take a risk, or step
way out of your comfort zone, perhaps even right off of the proverbial
cliff. This situation might have petrified you in the past but now you
look at it calmly with an inner confidence that allows you to see it
objectively for what it is.
You see it as an opportunity to firmly take yet another step in the
direction of your potential and to explore a world of new
possibilities. For sure this new future may be uncertain but there is
no fear, only anticipation and excitement. There are no guarantees out
there on the edge of course, but then there are no guarantees inside
the box either, only the illusion of them.
Those on the outside looking in may see this important and perhaps life
changing decision of yours as one requiring extraordinary courage but
you don't see it that way. Your sense of self and trust in your inner
voice is so strong that for you it requires almost no courage at all,
only your now strongly developed faith in yourself and the process of
life. You know that there is little to lose and much to gain, so what's
to fear?
Each of us has the potential to demonstrate what many might view as
being extraordinary courage and to live an extraordinary life. To do so
requires very little drama, only the everyday courage to go deep inside
and come to know the wonderful self residing there, to consciously
choose a new and more energizing direction, and to exercise little
disciplines that lead to thought and behavior habits making us
infinitely more capable than we might have ever thought possible.
So here's to YOUR extraordinary life, and to the everyday courage that
will take you there.
To your success,
Reg Neufeld
"The
comfort zone is the great enemy of courage and confidence." ----- Brian
Tracy
WANT TO
USE THIS ARTICLE FOR YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE? You can as long
as you include the following complete statement:
Reg Neufeld, founder of Growing Into Success Training, is a teacher of
life success and achievement principles using practical, step-by-step
processes that can help you get from where you are to where you want to
be. If you're ready to take control and begin living a truly happy and
successful life, get your FREE success tips now at www.growingintosuccess.com
SHARE
WITH FRIENDS!...
If you're enjoying this free newsletter you can pass it along
by forwarding this issue to a friend who might appreciate it. Should
they wish to receive it regularly they can be automatically added to
our subscription list simply by emailing newsletter@growingintosuccess.com
with their name and 'subscribe' in the subject box.
WE VALUE YOUR
FEEDBACK! ... Our intent for this F*R*E*E newsletter is that it be
brief, informal and include articles, tips or suggestions to help you
achieve the life success you desire ... and for each one to be of real
value to you. Also included are dates, times and locations of some of
our upcoming programs. (Complete Calendar of Public Venue Events on our
website.)
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions we would love to
hear from you.
Simply click Reply on your toolbar, jot down your thoughts, and hit
send ... or email reg@growingintosuccess.com.
Should you no longer wish to receive 'To Your Success', just hit Reply
on your Toolbar ... type UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject box ... and we will
take you off the list immediately.
Thank you.
Reg Neufeld
Growing Into Success Training
402 - 1838 Nelson St.
Vancouver, BC
V6G 1N1
604 868 1232
|
