The Courage Challenge

Collectively, we love to celebrate bravery.

We’re inundated with stories of people who ran into burning buildings, jumped into raging waters, and threw themselves in front of danger without a second thought. Those stories are incredible, and those people deserve every bit of recognition they get.

But there’s another kind of strength that doesn’t get nearly as much attention.

It’s quieter. It’s slower. And yet, for most of us, it’s far more relevant to the lives we actually live.

That strength is courage.

An Important Distinction

Most people use the words bravery and courage interchangeably. But while the words are similar, what makes them different really matters.

Bravery is acting without fear (or at least appearing to).

It’s reactive.

It’s the split-second decision to leap before you think. To use the well-worn example: a person rushes into a burning building to pull someone out. There’s no deliberation, no weighing of risks. They just go.

That’s bravery.

Courage is acting in spite of fear.

It’s intentional.

It requires us to think, to weight the risks, and to really make a choice before moving forward. It’s when a person knows that going to a protest against state violence could cost them their safety, their freedom, and maybe their life, and yet they shown up anyway.

That’s courage.

Bravery often shows up in a single dramatic moment. Courage shows up in the moments where you have time to talk yourself out of it –– and you choose to move forward anyway.

A Confrontation with Fear

In the context of The Superhero Code, I defined the importance of courage as a way of being in this way:

Even when I’m scared or am out of my comfort zone, I will not avoid challenges, I will confront issues.

The word “even” is doing a lot of work in that sentence. It acknowledges the fear. It doesn’t pretend the fear isn’t there. It simply refuses to let fear have the final say.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve challenged you to think about your responsibilities, who and what you’re willing to protect, what you’re willing to sacrifice, and what fuels your resilience.

Every single one of those things requires courage to actually do.

• You can know exactly what you’re responsible for and still avoid it because the conversation is uncomfortable.
• You can see someone who needs protection and freeze because you’re afraid of what might happen to you.
• You can understand what needs to be sacrificed and hold on too tightly because the loss feels too real.
• You can know you need to get back up and stay down because you’re terrified of getting hit again.

Fear is the thing that sits between knowing what to do and actually doing it.

Courage is a Practice

And here’s what makes it worse: fear compounds.

The longer you avoid something, the scarier it becomes. The story you tell yourself about what might happen grows larger and more elaborate with every passing day. Eventually, the fear you’ve built up in your mind dwarfs the actual risk.

When we don’t confront fear, we feed it.

But here is the good news: courage is not something you’re born with. It’s something you build. As a father of two, I can assure you that in the beginning, there is no such thing as fear. But it develops, and then, it is overcome.

Every time you do something that scares you –– even something small –– you are training yourself to act in the presence of fear. You are proving to yourself that fear does not have to be the deciding factor.

The person who regularly practices small acts of courage is far better prepared for the moments that demand big ones. The muscle is already there.

And the person who avoids discomfort at every turn? When the big moment arrives, they won’t suddenly discover courage they’ve never practiced.

This is why courage has to be intentional. Bravery can be spontaneous. Courage cannot.

Courage is a choice you make before the moment demands it.

The Courage Challenge

This week, I challenge you to find one thing you are afraid to do –– and do it.

It can be big. It can be small. It just has to be a step past the fear.

Maybe it’s:

• Having the difficult conversation you’ve been avoiding
• Sharing an idea or opinion you’ve been keeping to yourself
• Setting a boundary with someone who has been crossing one
• Showing up to something where you don’t know anyone
• Saying “no” to something you’ve been saying “yes” to out of obligation
• Standing up for someone when it would be easier to stay quiet
• Starting the thing you’ve been putting off because you’re afraid you’ll fail

The point is not to eliminate the fear. The point is to act with it.

Bravery might save the day in a single dramatic moment. But courage –– quiet, intentional, practiced courage –– is what changes your life.

Find your one thing this week. Feel the fear. Do it anyway.

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