We're on the downhill stretch of looking at the 8 Cs of Self-Leadership from the IFS-Institute and their founder, Dr. Richard Schwartz (Calm, Curiosity, Confidence, Compassion, Creativity, Courage, Clarity, and Connectedness). Hopefully, this series is helping to create some positive focus as we keep moving forward into 2025.
We've already touched on Calm, Curiosity, Confidence, Compassion, and Creativity, and this week we turn our attention to Courage.
Courage
One of the first things we have to acknowledge when thinking about Courage is that it's a partner to Fear. In other words, Courage is what is necessary in order for us to act in the face of Fear, and learning how to navigate forward progress in the midst of Fear can often feel like a daunting process. However, I think if we can change the way we think about how these two interact together, we may be able to create a pathway for movement that doesn’t have to feel so extreme.
Most of the time we think about Fear and Courage like switches in a series.
When the Fear switch is ON, the Courage switch is OFF. When the Courage switch is ON, the Fear switch is OFF.
In order to turn Fear OFF, we have to turn Courage ON. If Courage is ON, then Fear should be OFF. Our perception is that it's an all or nothing situation.
However, experience tells us that the interplay of Fear and Courage is more like a dial.
Sometimes we can be overwhelmed with Fear, and Courage feels really low. Sometimes we can feel very Courageous, and Fear is minimal. Most of the time, it is somewhere in between those extremes.
With this perspective in mind, we don’t have to get rid of Fear in order to move forward, we just have to turn the dial up on our Courage so we are slightly higher on the Courage side than the Fear side. We don't have to turn off Fear and turn on Courage, we just have to find enough Courage to help us take a step in the face of the Fear. The IFS-Institute describes it as the ability to take responsibility for ourselves, and the strength to take action toward a goal.
What challenges are you facing right now that involve some fear? How could you approach that situation in a way that simply required you to find enoughCourage to take a simple step? Is there some kind of personal responsibility you need to face in order to dial up your Courage? Would it help to name your fear to a friend so it turned the fear down a little and the Courage up a little? If that's true, who comes to your mind and how could you prioritize a chat with them?
Here's to turning up our Courage this week!
Be Well,
Stephen
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