Doing something that frightens you is not easy. When your brain is warning you that there’s danger ahead, it’s natural to to take a step back, slow down, and observe the situation carefully.
Sometimes though, we retreat for too long and the feeling of fear gets so intense that we resort to our comfort zone.
In business, it takes courage to invest money into an idea, share your message with the world, and make decisions that could affect your bottom line. These steps are difficult, but they are an important part of the process.
So, what does it take to make these courageous decisions? How do you take calculated risks? And what does courage in entrepreneurship look like in the first place?
What Courage Looks Like in Sports and Entrepreneurship
High-level sports regularly showcase courage. Athletes put their body, mind, and soul on the line, even when all seems lost.
Take professional ice hockey players, for example. It takes a brave and strong person to go into the corners, block a slap shot, or take the punishment associated with establishing a net-front present.
Ice Hockey also take a tremendous toll on the players’ health. According to the Journal of Athletic Training, National Hockey League (NHL) concussion rates are 5.8 to 6.1 per 100 games, with forwards experiencing significantly more concussions than defensemen or goalies. 2
The same courage that is observed in sports can also be found in business, although the health risks aren’t as severe as in contact sports.
Take a closer look at some of the greatest inventors of our time, and you see that they too took courageous action. Thomas Edison made thousands of attempts at inventing the right filament for his light bulb invention. According to an interview he held in the 1980s, somewhere between 1,000 to 10,000 of his experiment failed. 3
All along, Edison knew that he was doing the right thing; He knew that humanity needed electric light in order to advance. It takes a special kind of courage to follow through with something that you believe is right, especially when you’ve already failed countless of times (This is something I also talked about here).
In the upcoming sections of this blog, I will show you how you too can become a courageous person, if you aren’t already.
1. You Show Courage When You Leave Your Comfort Zone
I recently wrote a blog on comfort zones, which revolved all around Gina Millicia’s quote, “A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.”
I know from experience that that you don’t see personal growth if you always do what’s easy. It’s only when you channel your inner strength and take a courageous step outside your place of pleasure that you see positive results in your life and business.
As an entrepreneur, you show courage when you challenge yourself. You have to experiment with new ideas, learn new things, and put in hard work on a daily basis. Do this long enough, and you’ll eventually break through the Plateau of Latent Potential.
2. Courage is When You Take on Difficult Conversations
What’s something you’ve been wanting to discuss with someone? Perhaps you want to speak to your business partner about their performance. Maybe you’ve been meaning to ask for more funding from your investors.
If you have a difficult conversation coming up and you’d like to achieve a specific outcome, I encourage you to get a copy of Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most.
We attempt or avoid difficult conversations every day-whether dealing with an underperforming employee, disagreeing with a spouse, or negotiating with a client. From the Harvard Negotiation Project, the organization that brought you Getting to Yes, Difficult Conversations provides a step-by-step approach to having those tough conversations with less stress and more success.
Tough conversations take a lot of courage. They can cause us to feel fearful and be uncomfortable. With enough preparation though, it is possible to say the right things in the face of fear.
Here’s how you can take on a difficult conversation with courage:
- Be clear and what you need to say. What do you need to say in order to convey your message?
- Focus on maintaining your relationship with that person. Don’t say something that you would regret later on.
- Schedule the talk, but give yourself enough time to prepare.
If you prepare before heading into the conversation, you will be much more satisfied with the outcome.
3. Display Courage by Going After Long-Term Goals
What’s something you’ve been dreaming to achieve? Are there any long-term goals that come to mind?
I’ve always wanted to build a community of entrepreneurs, a platform where like-minded people can educate themselves on how to better themselves. Although I still have a lot of work ahead of me, I’m slowly turning this dream into reality by publishing weekly content on this website, which has been attracting a large readership.
The beginning was challenging, though. It took a lot of courage to publish my website under my name, inform close friends and family about it, and tell them, “This is who I am and what I stand for.”
I encourage you to take a leap of faith in your own life and pursue your goals with courage. Once you start, you wish you had begun earlier.
How to Build Up Enough Courage to Take Action in Your Business
The beginning is always the hardest part. You will have doubts about your decisions and might feel that you’re not making progress quickly enough.
When you finally build up enough courage and get started, I want you to think of the following quote by S. C. Lourie, “Just for the record, darling, not all positive change feels positive in the beginning.”
There will be times when your strength is tested. Perhaps you experience a setback or things don’t go as planned. When this happens, remember that failure is a part of success. It takes courage to get back up and running.
Previous: Your Lack of Confidence is Killing You? Try These 3 Things (8 min. read)
Feeling like you don’t have enough confidence can diminish the quality of your life. It can negatively impact your work, health, and even your relationships.
If you have experienced low self-confidence and struggle with negative thoughts, then you’re in the right place. In this blog post, I will explain why you feel a lack of confidence, and how you can increase your sense of self-worth in a few simple steps.
References
- "How many times did Edison fail in attempting to invent the light bulb?" Uncommon Content, 13 May 2015, uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2015/05/how-many-times-did-edison-fail-in.html.
- Buckley, Thomas A., and Kelsey N. Bryk. “Concussion and National Hockey League Player Performance: An Advanced Hockey Metrics Analysis.” Journal of Athletic Training, 1 Apr. 2019, doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-200-18.
- “How many times did Edison fail in attempting to invent the light bulb?” Uncommon Content, 13 May 2015, uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2015/05/how-many-times-did-edison-fail-in.html.