Having just launched my first fiction book, it was surprising to experience the amount of courage it took. While I had written nonfiction books throughout my career, it was my dream over the years to try my hand at fiction stories. Like so many of my writer buddies, I had been bitten by the writing bug as a kid. I had created lots of starters through the years, but only saved the drafts to my computer.
So now, after years of writing and editing, it was time to pull the trigger. This quote from author, Mary Anne Radmacher, fits the challenge I faced, "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow." *
The key to bolstering courage is to get over oneself in order to take action on something small or life changing.
Try This: Lean into Your Courage
Consider courage as a habit. The more you practice it, the stronger it gets, as noted by Dr. Margie Warrell, author.** She offers seven steps to build your courage muscle this week:
- Focus on a specific goal that you would like to achieve this year.
- Express your deepest fear in moving forward, in essence, what you are afraid might happen if you act toward it.
- Note down how you'll feel if you don’t do anything to achieve it.
- Write down ten things you can do this week to get moving toward the goal.
- Recruit an accountability partner or join a group committed to staying on track.
- Find networking groups, associations and other communities that provide education and encouragement.
- Keep taking your ten steps, staying in action, and the stronger your courage will become.
The idea of leaning into my personal courage to put my creative work out into the market helped me get over myself! Instead of finding every excuse not to publish my baby, I decided to go for it to exercise my courage muscle for the next one!
* Mary Anne Radmacher, author, https://quotefancy.com/quote/5574/Mary-Anne-Radmacher-Courage-doesn-t-always-roar-Sometimes-courage-is-the-little-voice-at
** Train The Brave: 7 Steps To Building Your Courage Muscles, https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2015/06/23/train-the-brave-why-daily-acts-of-courage-build-the-bravery-your-success-is-riding-on/