Life takes a lot of courage. Whether you are changing jobs, thinking about ending a relationship or beginning one, preparing for a tough conversation, or starting a new project, it can be uncomfortable, painful and scary. No matter what the change you are facing, fear is there in its many forms. You may fear failure or what’s next. You may fear judgment, looking stupid or making a mistake. One thing for sure, though, we all experience the dread and anxiety that fear can bring. What’s encouraging is that these feelings, even though they are unpleasant, are normal and necessary for our safety, personal growth and happiness.
So how do we become more courageous? Just like exercise builds our body muscles, so does taking action, in spite of our fears, builds our courage muscle. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Consistently doing what scares us makes us stronger and more mentally tough. When we step out of our comfort zones, challenging ourselves to be bigger, better people, what we gain is freedom, empowerment and confidence. And that’s huge! The rewards outweigh the fear, every time.
These quotes on courage below can inspire you to push past your fears and live life more fully.
1. “You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ~Christopher Columbus
2. “The best way out is always through.” ~Robert Frost
3. “All you need is the plan, the road map, ant the courage to press on to your destination.” ~Earl Nightingale
4. “Do the thing you fear, and continue to do so. This is the quickest and surest way of all victory over fear.” ~Dale Carnegie
5. “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” ~Mark Twain
6. “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” ~Nelson Mandela
7. “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” ~Oprah Winfrey
8. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’” ~Eleanor Roosevelt
9. “Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” ~Winston Churchhill
10. “All of our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” ~Walt Disney
11. “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” ~Vincent Van Gogh
12. “Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” ~Mary Anne Radmacher
13. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” ~Anais Nin
14. “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” ~C.S. Lewis
What is a fear that you have? Is it getting in the way of what you want? Which quote above will help you most to push past this fear? Let us know. We’d love to hear from you!
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