Demonstrate Courage

Courage is that quality of mind or spirit that compels people to face dangerous situations in spite of fear. It’s rare that people feel or are described as courageous before the event that compels them to act in this way. Rather, they’re referred to as such as a result of taking action regardless of their fears. Soldiers and heroes never refer to themselves as brave before they endure hardships. As far as they’re concerned, they’re just doing what they have to do at that moment.

You’ll often notice that successful people carry them- selves with an air of confidence and conviction, a sense of comfort, and maybe even a touch of arrogance. Before you start thinking that they are somehow inherently “different,” you should understand that they acquired these qualities as a result of taking action. The more frequently you can do things that scare you a bit, the more others will label you as cou- rageous—and then gravitate toward you. Courage comes to those who act, not to those who think, wait, and wonder. The only way to hone this trait is by taking action. Although you can train to increase your skills and your confidence, cour- age is only attained by doing—especially doing things that you fear. Who wants to do business with or support someone who readily gives in to his or her fears? Who wants to invest in a project when the people behind it don’t act with confidence and courage?

I was recently interviewed by someone who asked me, “Does notfting scare you?” The question surprised me because I know that I experience fear. I suppose that it must appear that I am not scared because I deliver fourth degree actions— and you can certainly do the same. Attack, dominate, and keep your attention on the future, and then continue to repeat your actions—and your courage will grow. Do things that scare you more frequently, and they will slowly begin to scare you a bit less—until they become so habitual that you wonder why you ever feared them in the first place!

Embrace Change

Successful people love change, whereas the unsuccessful do everything they can to keep things from changing. But how can you create success when you are trying to keep things from becoming any different? It is impossible. Although you never want to alter the things that are working, you should always look for ways to improve what you are doing. The successful keep an eye out for what is coming next. They seek out potential, upcoming market transformations and embrace them instead of rejecting them. The successful look at how the world is shifting and apply this to how they might improve their operations and grow their advantage. They never subsist on yesterday’s successes. They know that they must continue to adapt or they won’t remain victorious. Change is not some- thing to resist; it’s something that should keep you excited. Apple’s Steve Jobs is a great example of this. He changes his products before a competitor can catch up or his consumers can get bored with them. The willingness to accept change is a great quality of the successful.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 605