By Richard Mover | Contributor
Courage is not inherently a given. It must be summoned, it’s a choice. Its arrival is manifested through will, internal strength, and the decisiveness and follow through necessary to act. The only secure pathway to that “X Factor” within each of us is through the internal journey of introspection. It leads to an acute self-awareness of the good, bad, ugly and unresolved that resides deep inside.
More importantly, it helps us identify what’s useful and tied to purpose, and what isn’t. Looking inside ourselves also helps us become untethered to habitual behaviors that are harmful and/or self-defeating so that we can find the courage to soar.
As we embark on this journey of introspection, courage is what christens our voyage. It’s the wind in the sails that moves the vessel forward. Without it, things remain stagnant and status quo. Courage is the essential ingredient, the catalyst to confronting fears, self-imposed obstacles, limited beliefs, and other personal demons along the way.
Once we manifest and harness it, courage gives us the strength, perseverance, and resilience not to just keep going, but to always keep growing, exponentially through both failure and success and all the adversity and challenges that life throws at us.
Courage can’t be manufactured externally. It’s a fire that comes from deep within. It isn’t founded on mere desire. Its foundation is solidified by an urgent requirement. A need so strong it pushes us past our fears and shakes us out of our comfort zones. It redirects our passion and purpose towards possibilities, unleashing our personal sense of freedom and fearlessness, and allows us to be curious, creative and empowered. Courage always plays the positive. Making what seems impossible not just achievable, but probable. Once we manifest and harness it, courage gives us the strength, perseverance, and resilience not to just keep going, but to always keep growing, exponentially through both failure and success and all the adversity and challenges that life throws at us.
I firmly believe in the correlation of “trial, error, reflection and correction.” It’s become a personal mantra of mine. However, without the “reflection” there can be no “correction” that takes place and therefore no personal growth or possibility of a positive transformation. We must find the courage to look inside and do a careful examination of what’s there and what isn’t. And to take personal stock – a a checkup from the neck up so to speak – to discover strengths and qualities we didn’t know we had, hidden talents and abilities that have been lying dormant, and limitations both conscious and unconscious, possibly self-imposed since childhood, that will bubble to the surface.
Courage can’t be manufactured externally. It’s a fire that comes from deep within.
It is only via the journey of great introspection that anxieties, fears and negative self-talk that for years have been holding us back from fulfilling our divine destinies will be replaced with a primal call to action.
Truthful self-analysis leads to intentionality and accountability, and in time, is the only secure pathway to fulfilling our full potential.
I want to encourage courageousness in all of us, to have the boldness to uncover our blind spots, face the unknown and all the uncertainties that lie ahead.
I implore you can muster the fearlessness to take the internal journey, no matter how scary that might seem, and to have faith that it will lead to a deeper understanding of yourself and others by doing so.
Publisher’s Note: Richard Mover is a Life Coach, Trainer and Motivational Speaker I have worked with for many years, and highly recommend. If you are looking for assistance to achieve your personal and business goals, contact Richard at Performance Transformance or RDMover@gmail.com.
About The Author:
Richard Mover is an award-winning professional theatre artist with over 30 years of experience as an actor, director, playwright, percussionist, and singer/songwriter in NYC. He is a proud member of Actor’s Equity and SAG/AFTRA. He is the resident CreativePerformance Coach for My Speaker’s Boutique, a booking agency that trains and represents public speakers at all levels of experience. Richard is also a certified Pinnacle Performance Coach, Trainer and Speaker living in NYC, and the founder of Performance Transformance.
Richard’s speaking platform, An Actor’s Guide to Developing Emotional Intelligence; The Art of Creating Connection & Momentum, engages, inspires and challenges audiences to connect with themselves and others on a whole new level.
He also offers extensive individual and group trainings, workshops and individual sessions focusing on the expansion of emotional intelligence in personal lives and/or professional circumstances.
Richard’s experience also includes helping to design, develop and implement optimal performance and transformative training programs for The New York City Bar Association, Merrill Lynch, The Maxwell Leadership Sales Team, Consolidated Capital, Planners Inc, and Guardian Life among others.
In the New York theatre world, Richard has played lead roles in several Off-Broadway plays and has also acted in or directed dozens of plays, readings and revivals within several renown theatre companies in NYC. Richard has worked with and been mentored by several luminaries of the American theatre, including the iconic Jose Quintero, the great NikosPsacharopoulos (Meryl Streep’s acting teacher) and the visionary director, Gene Frankel.
