Practical Tools for Finding Courage and Revealing Your True Voice

Practical Tools for Finding Courage and Revealing Your True Voice

Reader Comments (17)

  1. I talk it out. With my best friend, sister or mother.

    It helps me narrow down to a decision and get on board whether or not I feel courageous. I am scared most of the times of the decision I take.

    In the recent years it has been little easier for me to pick up courage. I learnt a lot, I guess. And I am happy the trigger which I pulled many years back didn’t fire. (I had suicidal thoughts in my teens,)

    As they say, maybe it will be worse – when you step back you will never know.

    It is better to step and know it is worse than ponder if it might be worse.

    Great piece Sonia. Loved the Ishi story a lot. Thank you.

    Stay Awesome.

  2. Not to be trite, but this post may have started me on the path to changing my life. I need to get McGonigal’s book and watch her TED talk. It’s been weighing on my heart lately that I really, really, really need to reframe my response to stress of any kind. So much stress. No words. And then this article shows up in my FB feed. Thank you.

  3. I think about the life that I was living before I found my courage and doing what resonates with me – full of unhappiness and struggle. Not wanting to go back to that life is what keeps me moving forward, putting in the work, and choosing the scary (but possibly rewarding) choices!

  4. My best tip for finding my courage in regards to online business is just to keep going. I write a funky world music blog. I love doing it. I’d love to make a living from it. And yet, not enough people care about this music enough to spend time & money on my site. Regardless, I keep going because I love the music. I’m making relationships with the musicians, and other fans, so this gives me the wherewithal to keep going with it.

  5. Hey Sonia,

    I totally agree what Ishi has said. We all learn from our experiences. Being curious than afraid is something I would really like to adapt.

    And Kelly’s book seems really interesting. I always wonder about gathering the courage to do something I always wondered to do.

    Well, I think some more TED talks can help.
    Glad to read such a wonderful article.
    ~Ravi

  6. This was a really great article Sonia. We will always run into resistance and encounter trolls/haters in life. But I think the most important thing to remember is that these people represent a very small group. If we keep this in the back of our minds courage will always be with us.

  7. Hello Sonia and thank you for your suggestions.

    Being naturally and actively curious…though not always naturally courageous, one way I find courage is to recall the times when I am courageous. I’ve travelled many places, often beyond my native language or culture. I often get feedback, wow, you’re so brave. Travel is a natural moment where my curiosity outweighs my fear. I can use those moments to remind me in this moment when my fear might edge my curiosity out of first place.

    Often I give myself permission to take baby steps to move forward toward a scary goal. That might mean I start with what I call, pre-beginning—with being willing to be willing to take the first step. And that allows movement out of the frozen and into courage.

    An example (thx Sonia) was your post in Dec about getting a writing habit going. What you shared was not new…yet the invitation arrived in a moment when I was willing to be willing. So I wrote a tiny bit each day with no commitment to publish. And allowed the tiny bit to grow…and now I’m writing regularly. Even though I’ve now posted on my blog, the next step on the courage train…being willing to share what I write beyond my friends.

    And a final tip that nudges the courage needle past the fear is to remember that (HT Pamela Wilson), “When it comes time for you to approach another business owner…Everyone else is as scared as I you are. No matter how they look on the surface…”

    • Sometimes, I don’t know about you, I have brain farts…not sure what I was thinking or how to fix it once I hit “post.”. So adding a comment to my comment. The above quote is a direct quote from Pamela Wilson…not a HT.

      Thank you, Sonia, for creating a safe space to practice walking, “…the beautiful and rocky path.” This is when I get to pick the gravel out of my knee, dust off and take the next step forward. A little shaky, though truly excited.

  8. Hi, Sonia! Let me start off but saying thank you for this great article. I really enjoyed it.

    I have had my share of ups and downs when it comes to finding and using my authentic voice with my blogging. Even after blogging for a while now I still find myself questioning how people will take the opinions or advice that I am trying to convey to them.

    I suppose that is at least somewhat normal as you are trying to make the majority of your readers happy, but it becomes a problem when it gets in the way of efficiently finishing an article.

    I have been lucky that I haven’t had any comments or emails from trolls or other negative people, but I would hope that when I eventually do get something from one of those people that I keep your suggestions in mind and try not to convince them of my opinions, thus fueling their fire.

    Anyways, again, thanks a lot for this great post!

    • I think you’ll find as you make your way that you reach a point when you’re not as worried about finishing the article, and not as worried about making “most people” happy, and you start to focus on what only you can say. When you write something meaningful, something the audience couldn’t find anywhere else.

      That’s the scary part, it’s also the rewarding part.

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