5 Intention-setting Ideas to Strengthen Our Courage

With the new calendar year comes intentions for change. As we welcomed the Chinese New Year of the Snake on January 29th, the snake encourages all of us to embrace change and growth.  Yet change is scary as it requires us to open our hearts up and take a risk to try something different.  It invites us to face the fear of failure, even when the simple act of trying is evidence of our courage, regardless of the outcome.

Change requires courage, so below are some intention-setting ideas to strengthen our courage in these times of change:

1. Start Small.  Courage exercises our heart muscles, so starting with small, manageable risks that push us a little out of our comfort zones is a good place to test the waters.  With each small attempt to tackle something new, courage will grow and your heart muscles will strengthen.  So perhaps revisit your intentions for the new year and break them down into small steps and start there.
2. Shift Focus.  Fear of failure can hold us back on our journeys of growth.  Failure is a teacher and guide.  The more we can befriend failure and see it as a teacher, the less scary it becomes and the more we can shift our focus on what we define as success.  Consider redefining success and failure, with success reflecting your courage to try something new and failure reflecting your willingness to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes by taking action, paving the way for your growth and enhancing your resilience.
3. Practice Self Compassion.  Accepting and embracing failure as a necessary part of a full life supports courage and includes practicing self compassion.  So consider ramping up your commitment to self compassion so you are open to treating yourself with loving kindness in those painful moments of failure.  Perhaps buy a deck of cards that provides self compassion exercises to practice after a setback, especially if self compassion is a new tool in your current coping skills tool kit.
4. Build a Support Network.  Surrounding yourself with supportive people who embrace and encourage growth emboldens courage. Having a group that believes in your ability to change can reinforce your courage when facing a new challenge.  Consider seeking advice, encouragement, or simply reassurance from those who care about you as such support can increase your confidence and provide you with more motivation.
5. Take Time to Reflect.  As you begin to more consciously take those small, manageable risks, plan to reflect on your accomplishments, both from your redefined success and failure perspectives.  Consider starting a Growth Journal, where you write down the steps you took from a place of courage and the results.  Then, in those inevitable moments of self doubt, you can open your journal to remind yourself of times when you’ve overcome obstacles and what you learned that has supported your progress.  Reflecting on your previous experiences of  courage will help to reinforce the core belief that you are capable of navigating change.