Armory of Courage

9 tools to help you brave fear

When I first climbed up a high rope course, my legs shivered.

My hands clung to the pole. I could hardly bring myself to let go.

Even though I was technically safe.

Fear of heights - How to be brave instead?

I despised myself for this lack of control. It was embarassing. Let alone impractical. I wanted to be able to move up here and enjoy myself like apparently all of my peers did.

Naturally, this wasn’t the last I saw of anxiety, fear or doubts.

This physical paralysis though taught me that at times will or reason aren’t enough. Sure, it helps to know how our amygdala works. Or what it takes to build self-confidence.

To overcome adverse effects of our automated fight or flight response however we also need somatic tools.

They are the most natural and effective way to regulate our nervous system. Applied well, they allow us to quickly settle back into a state in which we’re able to use reason and skills. Find more in the below Armoury of Courage

Courage is looking fear right in the eye and saying
„Get the hell out of my way, I‘ve got things to do.“

Fear is natural. Firefighters, soldiers or surgeons however trained their brains to focus on their mission. Even in the presence of fear. How?

Fear is a signal in our brain. It‘s fired by the amygdala. A part of our brain that is responsible for your first emotional response.

Given time, our cortex will then take over and check the emotion in the light of reason.

If something is actually dangerous, fear can still be overriden by a stronger emotion. Like love. That’s how a mother can rescue her child from a burning building, despite being terrified.

Our brain always processes the strongest signal first. Be it fear, love, passion or drilled in duty.

We in turn can rewire our brain and influence how our amygdala reacts.

To do so, we can shift our attention towards the emotion we want to strengthen. (See Tale of two Wolves)

And repeatedly practice new patterns of thinking until the wished for reactions become our new nature.

Courage is the most important quality:
It allows us to consistently practice all others.
– Aristotle

How can I be brave when I’m afraid?

Courage can be defined as the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation.

In its earliest form, the word courage also meant “to speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.” (Brené Brown, I Thought It Was Just Me)

In other words: Courage is not absence of fear, but resistance to or even mastery of fear. Which grows with the judgement that something else is more important to you than your fear is. So your will to face the situation becomes stronger than the fear that holds you back.

You see, we don‘t have to be fearless to be brave. Quite the reverse. As Ambrose Redmoon puts it: „To take action when one is not afraid is easy. To refrain when afraid is also easy. To take action regardless of fear is brave.“

So let‘s be thankful for being afraid: It’s half of what it takes for acting courageous. ;)