Keeping Your Courage in the Face of Adversity

“Courage is the power of the mind to overcome fear.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Every leader eventually faces difficult circumstances. In these situations, courage is a must if you are to be able to achieve your goals. Without courage, the opportunity to succeed becomes less because you don’t have the ability to persist.

What Sets Courageous Leaders Apart

There are countless examples of courageous leaders. The one thing that each has in common is their determination to continue pushing forward, despite what others believe, or what current circumstances continue to throw up at them.

Rather than focusing on failure, and becoming discouraged from pursuing their goals, courageous leaders look at challenges as opportunities to improve. Buoyed by optimism and enthusiasm, they motivate themselves to look for meaning in each challenge and turn it to their advantage.

Tips to Build Courage and Confidence

Like many other leadership skills, courage is a skill that can be learned and strengthened.  The following tips can help you to cultivate your courage and use it to increase your success!

Be Flexible

One thing that commonly happens when you are pursuing your goals is that suddenly you’ll hit a roadblock and all movement comes to a standstill. The first emotion you feel at these moments is fear, and then panic.

When you hit a roadblock, don’t throw out your entire plan.

Take a moment to step back from the situation and ask yourself, “Is this roadblock an opportunity to re-evaluate my plan and perhaps refine my approach? What can I do to turn this setback into a positive experience?” Be flexible in your approach. You never know what good things this unexpected roadblock might uncover.

Build Support

Long before you encounter any obstacles, it is important that you are always building your network of support. Look for people who believe in you and your vision. Surround yourself with the people who will encourage you and help you have the strength and determination to keep going.

Focus on the Future

During times of adversity, it’s important that you don’t focus on negative emotions.

Rather than dwelling on events and mistakes that you may have just made, leave them in your past.

Learn what lessons you can from those mistakes and then let them go. You can make the learning work for you. Move on by focusing on the future and what your life will be like when you achieve your goals.

It’s the Small Things that Matter

When hardships occur, and threaten to permanently derail your plans, it can be overwhelming.

At these times, it’s especially important to focus on positive emotions to bolster your fortitude and strength, and give you the ability to persist and improve performance.

Remember that small accomplishments add up to greater successes. The small things really do matter.

When you are facing a significant challenge and can’t see a way forward, take the time to re-examine your ultimate goal, and then break it down into smaller steps. Focus on taking just one positive action or step forward, no matter how small this might be and don’t forget to celebrate this win.

No matter how small it is, forward movement is progress towards your goal.

When you focus on your “wins” rather than your “losses”, you build your motivation and momentum to perform at your best.  This will help you move past the current crisis and on to the next challenge. The more you do it, the easier it becomes to acknowledge your achievements. That’s how you strengthen and maintain your courage.

If you feel you need help to start changing your mindset when it comes to courage, our Leadership Academy will help you build the skills you need.  Talk to us today about how we can help.