Do you consider yourself courageous? Do you sometimes wish you could be more courageous?
Let’s look at a dictionary meaning for the word –
Not deterred by danger or pain; brave.
It fascinates me that we can be courageous in some areas of our lives and a big scaredy-cat in others.
Courage like a lot of other things gets better with practice. The more we practice acts of courage, the more we are likely to act courageously.
Courage doesn’t have to be big and bold and in your face. It can be subtle and small but still incredibly
powerful.
What qualifies as an act of courage is unique for each person.
Each of us has our own experiences and situations to deal with. What is courageous for one person, might be commonplace for another.
Remember courage is not a competition. It’s not something to compare to someone else. It’s something unique and special to you.
Let’s look at 25 ways to be more courageous in life. How you choose to bring more courage into your daily life is completely up to you.
Disclosure – This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Any compensation I receive does not affect the price you pay.
1. Forming your own opinion
Forming your own opinion is a courageous act.
All too often we agree with people to fit in or have them accept us when what we should be doing is forming our own opinion based on the facts and circumstances as we see them.
We are often quick to follow trends because everyone else is doing it – so why not?
The ‘why not’ part is because we might not believe in the latest fad, trend, salacious piece of gossip, or whatever it is that people are trying to get us to believe.
There is power in forming your own opinion.
Sometimes courage can be having no opinion at all. It’s okay to hold off on your opinion when you don’t know enough about the subject at hand or know all of the facts.
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2. Choosing your own path
Choosing your own path is definitely an act of courage.
You are a person, not a sheep, so don’t blindly follow the crowd.
You might not want to get married and have kids. Or you might be married but decide kids aren’t for you. You might not want to work for a corporate company but instead, forge your own path with your own business.
You might not want the college education and the student loans that sometimes come with it.
Don’t get me wrong if you want all those things, go for it because that’s the whole point! You are responsible for making your own decisions. Just try to make sure those decisions are actually yours and not someone else’s.
Choosing and following your own path is courageous and brave.
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3. Speaking up
Speaking up might mean sharing your ideas in a company meeting. It might mean asking questions in a job interview. It could mean talking to your partner or family about an important topic.
Extroverts often have no problem speaking up as they process their thoughts via speaking and discussion.
Introverts may struggle with speaking up as they tend to process their thoughts internally, before speaking.
It doesn’t mean that the extrovert is brave and the introvert isn’t, they just have different communication and processing techniques.
If you are an introvert or suspect you may be one, the below books may help you speak up when you need to.
4. Sticking up for yourself
There’s speaking up and then there’s sticking up for yourself.
Sticking up for yourself usually refers to a more confrontational situation. You might be defending yourself or stating your case.
Either way, it can be difficult. The difficulty rating tends to be based on who you are talking to at the time.
It’s one of the reasons people sometimes offload their frustration and anger on complete strangers because speaking to the person who they have an issue with is hard for them.
Sticking up for yourself isn’t always easy. Sometimes we stand up for ourselves and other times we struggle with it. Don’t be too hard on yourself for the times when you struggle.
Just be as brave as you can be and hang in there.
If you need help having a difficult or important conversation, the book Crucial Conversations might be just what you are looking for.
5. Sticking up for someone else
We might be great at sticking up for ourselves but what about sticking up for someone else?
This one can be hard.
We might not want to get involved. We might not want to put ourselves at risk (particularly when it comes to being in physical danger ourselves).
Sticking up for someone else takes a huge dose of bravery and courage. It isn’t always easy and we all have to make this call for ourselves.
Bullying, in particular, is a huge problem in schools, online, and in the workplace and it needs to be addressed and dealt with. People standing together against bullying is important.
Stick up for people whenever you can. Let them know they are not alone.
6. Fighting for what you believe in
Fighting for what you believe in often means upsetting people, disagreeing with them, and standing your ground.
Fighting for what you believe in takes action. It takes commitment.
When it comes to fighting for what we believe in, we often need to pick our battles. We can’t always fight for every little thing or we lose clarity on the big picture. If we are fighting too many battles at once we might lose focus on what we are ultimately trying to achieve.
Sometimes fighting for what we believe in can be a slow burn and we have to be patient and persevere.
Big bravery right there!
7. Keeping Quiet
Sometimes staying quiet and keeping our thoughts to ourselves can be the smartest thing to do.
In the social media-driven world we live in, it’s all too easy to express every thought and feeling we have the second we have it.
Yet often our true strength lies in processing those thoughts and feelings in private.
Our minds often think so much rubbish, trivial crap, and downright lies so it’s worth taking the time to process what we are thinking before we express ourselves.
That way we can throw out the garbage thoughts that run through our minds without putting them on social media for people to see.
There is power in keeping quiet.
There is courage in knowing when to express ourselves and when to keep our mouths shut.
8. Understanding your relationship with risk
Some people might think that courage is all about taking risks or even doing something physically dangerous.
Each of us defines the level of risk that we are comfortable with. Each of us has to draw our own line between risk and stupidity.
Like courage itself, stupidity will mean different things to different people.
Work out what risk means for you so that you have the courage to take a risk but not be stupid about it.
9. Committing to your goals and dreams
It takes dedication, commitment, perseverance, and resilience to stick to your goals and dreams. Not to mention there’s normally a bucketload of hard work involved.
And yes, it also takes courage.
It takes courage to keep going when we fail. If we are truly committed to our goals and dreams we will fail. Failure is part of success. Our ability to get back up after a setback and keep going is what allows us to achieve our goals. It’s our ability to bounce back after a bad day, week, or even a bad year that sets us apart.
We do it because we are committed to our goals.
Do you have clarity on your goals? Do you have your goals written down and a plan in place to see them to fruition?
10. Not giving up
When we get knocked down, rejected, or hit with a major setback, it can be easy to want to give up.
It can be easy to feel dejected and feel like we want to crawl into a cave and hide for a while.
Yet we don’t. We take some much-needed time out, lick our wounds, and get back out into the world. We do this because we have courage, strength, and resilience. Hell, sometimes we do it because we are stubborn and we’re not willing to admit defeat. Whatever it takes, we find the courage to keep moving forward.
Need help with being bold and resilient and getting back up after a setback? CreativeLive runs an excellent online course – How to be Bold, Resilient and Better Than Ever. This course is run by Tabatha Coffey. Tabatha can help you learn from your mistakes and failures, identify your fears, and build resilience to push forward.
11. Choosing to leave
Sometimes we need to give up and leave a particular situation.
Choosing to leave a situation can take a lot of courage.
We might decide we need to leave our relationship, marriage, or job. We might decide we need to free ourselves from toxic people or situations.
Walking away from a marriage that isn’t working, especially if you have children can be one of the hardest (and bravest) decisions you will ever make.
Walking away, saying enough is enough, is a sign of incredible strength.
12. Telling the truth
Telling the truth can take courage.
Telling the truth can make us feel vulnerable.
It’s a bit scary how easy it is for some people to lie. They do it as easily as breathing.
We all lie in some way, whether it’s big stinking lies, little white lies, or lies of omission (which are incredibly common).
Telling the truth when we benefit from it is easier. When we get something from telling the truth, we are all in.
But what about when we can lose something; when we risk something important; when telling the truth is the hard thing to do?
That’s when we are really put to the test.
Related post – Do You Know When You Are Lying to Yourself?
13. Getting out of your comfort zone
Getting out of your comfort zone might mean traveling overseas for the first time or traveling overseas by yourself.
It might mean taking yourself out for lunch on your own. It could mean being around people when you are used to spending time by yourself. It might mean watching a different type of movie genre from what you are used to.
A lot of the magic in our lives happens outside our comfort zone.
Try new things. Be adventurous. Ditch the procrastination and dive in.
Break free from your comfort zone, whatever that means for you.
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14. Being compassionate towards people who are different from you
It can be far too easy to disregard other people’s feelings and values, particularly when they are different from our own. Particularly when it goes against what we believe in.
Listening to people’s side of the story, and listening to their needs all require compassion.
Compassion and courage often go hand in hand.
Whenever you can, be more compassionate.
Listen and try to be more empathetic. Don’t just put yourself in someone else’s shoes – imagine what it feels like for them in their shoes (taking into account their feelings, memories, and past experiences).
Related post – 20 Ways to Show Genuine Interest in People’s Lives
15. Exploring the world
This is one of my personal favorites and an amazing way you can be more courageous.
Exploring the world, experiencing different cultures, and seeing the beauty of this planet. It’s fun, exciting, and fascinating.
It also takes courage.
Even more so when it feels like people want to scare us into not exploring, not enjoying our beautiful and wondrous world. Instead, they want us to be scared. Too scared to go anywhere.
Don’t let fear win, get out there and explore.
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- 12 Ways Travel Can Change Your Life
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16. Believing things can get better
Things can always get better but you must have the courage to believe that.
I know it’s not easy. I know it can be really, really hard.
When we are going through a difficult time we might not feel very courageous but that is when we need our courage the most.
It’s easy to think who cares nothing is going to get better anyway and just give up. But where does that get you?
How does that make you feel?
Real courage lies in believing.
Believing things can get better. Believing better times are around the corner and that we have the ability to change our lives.
Believing that we are in control of our own lives.
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17. Working to have a better life
The long hours, the crappy working conditions, the control freak bosses, the restructures and redundancies. The uncertainty, insecurity, and the feeling of being treated like just a number.
Yet we turn up and do our best work.
We are working to improve our lives. Working to provide food and shelter and security for our loved ones and ourselves.
You might think this is just life but it’s still an incredible act of courage and love.
18. Working on your personal growth
I consider all of my readers’ courageous souls because they come to Write Change Grow wanting to improve their lives, know their worth, grow as a person, and get inspired to transform their lives.
Kudos for courage right there! 🙂
Working on your personal growth and personal development is always worth the time and effort.
19. Being confident
Ah, confidence! Sometimes we have tonnes of it and other times it seems to be hiding just out of our reach.
Sometimes it’s the courage to admit we need help in this area, that matters the most.
20. Loving someone
Letting ourselves truly love someone can sometimes feel like the scariest, bravest, craziest thing we ever do.
It takes courage to put yourself out there. Courage to risk rejection. Courage to open up to someone.
It takes courage to trust someone.
In the new dating world, it’s all about dumping people via text message or worse on social media. There’s no courage in that. It’s just cowardly.
The world of television dating means it’s easy to dismiss people, it’s easy to be superficial about someone’s looks. It’s easy to lie. It’s easy to cheat (hell the shows actually encourage it) and pretend you are someone you’re not and that you want something you don’t. It’s easy to say you are looking for love when what you’re really looking for is your shot at fame, media attention, and money.
There’s no emotional investment. No getting to know a person. It’s all just superficial (and most likely scripted) snippets and moving on to the next conquest. It’s all about the drama and not about connection and love.
Courage is taking the time and getting to know someone. It’s also about using your heart and your head and choosing that person wisely.
Related post – 20 Questions to Ask Yourself if You Want to Find Love
21. Being kind
You might think this is an odd addition but I consider being kind as an act of courage.
People are so busy criticizing each other and picking each other to pieces on reality television and on social media that being kind is starting to feel like a rare thing.
Thanks to reality television being mean, awful, bitchy, critical, and rude has all become common practice. Worse it has become entertainment. Amazingly enough, we now have whole television channels dedicated to hurting one another on purpose.
Don’t let being kind be a rarity. Sprinkle kindness everywhere. The world needs more of it.
Related post – Does Reality Television Promote Bullying?
22. Keeping your clothes on
Okay, I admit, this one needs further explanation.
I don’t consider myself a prude by any means but it concerns me what people are doing to get attention.
How do women commonly get attention? They take their clothes off. They get on stage and sing in their underwear (you generally don’t see men performing this way).
They strip down and put naked photos on Instagram to get likes. They have a movie/album/reality television show coming out that they want to promote so they take their clothes off.
I don’t think this is very courageous (and I appreciate that some people will disagree with me).
There is so much of it now, it’s starting to feel like just more of the same. Oh, another nearly naked celebrity – no big deal.
Young women are ripping their clothes off for money and selling their souls in the process. They are putting photos on social media that they will regret later. They are sending pictures to people on their mobiles at a huge risk to themselves.
It’s not just the women either. Men are in on the act as well sending pictures on their mobiles that they really shouldn’t be.
Keep your clothes on and have the courage to be noticed and recognized for your amazing singing voice, your skills, your talent, or your personality.
Be courageous and keep your clothes on.
23. Admitting you need help
This is a big one for a lot of people.
They don’t want to admit they need help, so they struggle and get further bogged down by life.
Admitting you need help is not a sign of weakness, quite the opposite actually it’s a sign of strength. It’s a sign of
being committed to doing whatever it takes to improve, change, or alter your situation.
Don’t let stubbornness or pride get in your way. Admit you need help.
Related post – Coping with Life’s Unexpected Setbacks
24. Asking for help
I thought this was worth including because sometimes admitting you need help and asking for help and following through on that help are not the same thing.
A lot of people have trouble asking for help.
Asking for help and following through to get it, is the next big step of bravery. Ask for help when you need it.
Reach out, you will probably be surprised just how many people and services are available and willing to help you.
25. Being yourself
Often one of the most courageous things we can do is be ourselves.
Loving yourself, being yourself. That is true bravery.
Don’t waste your precious time trying to be someone else.
Be more courageous
Be yourself to be more courageous. It’s the biggest boldest most amazing act of courage you will ever take.
I hope this post has encouraged you to have more courage in your daily life. You are brave, you are strong, you are courageous. Go get them, tiger! You got this.
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