With You – By Taking Risks and Practicing Courage
When I penned my Valentine to you, I mentioned that the entire month of February would be devoted to a celebration of LOVE. I’m all about loving the people in your world – and the person you must fall madly in love with (again) is yourself.
I know of no way to do this – to embrace a love affair with yourself – without taking risks, and without facing fear.
Following your heart’s desires invariably involves fear.
We stay in mind-numbing jobs because we are afraid of starting over. We avoid new relationships because we are wary of getting hurt. We don’t wear our sexiest dresses to dinner because we’re terrified of what other people might think. We don’t write books because we fear that they might be stupid.
We let our fear convince us that we’re undeserving of happiness or success.
When we do this, what we are really doing is allowing our fears to block our steps toward the lives our hearts know we are meant to live. We are allowing societal beliefs to limit our potential. We are strangling our own creativity and joy.
I’m going to be boldly honest with you: You must stop letting fear control you.
Don’t settle in life because you’re afraid. You deserve to live a bigger, bolder life.
I invite you to choose love over fear.
I invite you to fall crazy, head-over-heels love with yourself. To live the life of your heart’s desire. To step into that life of dreams – by challenging your fears. I want to encourage you to take risks.
Boldly undertaking courageous acts will help you break down the boundaries set by fear and destroy the constraints that are holding you back from living your life right smack in the middle of the zone.
Believe me: I know how daunting this sounds. I know all about living as a smaller, watered down version of myself. I know about living in fear. I know that it can be terrifying to make changes.
I also know that when we begin to create a regular practice it will set a foundation for transformation. Building your courage muscle takes time, but just as each day of exercise makes your body stronger, so, too, will you become stronger in spirit with each act of courage.
You will gain confidence. You will learn to embrace all the good in your life.
You will fall more in love with yourself!
When it comes to taking risks, everyone needs a helping hand from time to time. To help you along the path towards love and away from fear, I’m reviving the Courage Agreement.
What’s a Courage Agreement?
Like a Peace Agreement, a Courage Agreement is a written vow with yourself. Writing something down cements the intent, and gives you something to look at as the month goes on. Besides, you wouldn’t want to renege on a contract with yourself, would you?
Step One – Download (or create) a written Courage Agreement
Step Two – Write down 10 acts of courage you will make over the next month.*
Step Three – Write down a TREAT you will give yourself upon completion. It’s very important you reward yourself for taking risks.
Step Four – Just DO IT!
*Need some ideas for Step Two? The Courage Agreement Download includes 100 ways to Practice Courage. Some of them are big. Some of them seem small. Some of them seem silly. But they’re not. It’s all about stepping into a little discomfort as we build our courage muscles and step away from our fears!
Courage will look different to everyone. For some people, giving a presentation to 100 people is easy; to others, it’s courageous. I’m not asking you to Sky Dive (unless it’s on your bucket list!).
I’m asking you to make your world bigger by stepping into your courage.
Download the Courage Agreement. Write down 10 acts of Courage you will make over the next month. Share some of the acts with your friends (or feel free to email it to me!)
In fact: Invite your three best friends to take the courage agreement as well.
Imagine. People from all over are smashing fear and choosing love. Deciding to live the boldest version of themselves.
I promise you, at the end of the month, your Courage Muscles will be stronger and your life broader. And at the end of the month, after you’ve rewarded yourself of course, what should you do? Create another Courage Agreement for the next month and allow yourself to fall more madly in love with YOU!
What about you?
Are you ready to fall head-over-heels in love with you and your life?
