Let me let you in on a little secret. When I started as a Master of Ceremonies, I was terrified. My hands shook before every event. I questioned whether I belonged on stage.
What follows are the personal courage tips I have used to walk into rooms full of presidents and CEOs without my hands shaking. If you want to be more courageous in your own life or work, these five steps will help you start today.
Courage does not run on autopilot. Like musicians who play instruments and rehearse, you have to develop it.
The dictionary defines courage as “the ability to do something that frightens one; bravery,” or the ability to muster “strength in the face of pain or grief.” Courage is learned and improved upon with daily action.
It does not matter how much courage you lack right now. You can always apply trusted methods and steps to build the courage to win in any situation. Here are a few ways to build and develop your courage levels.
1. Don’t Do It Once. Do It, and Do It Again.
Repetition is the law of deep and lasting impression.
Have you ever run a marathon? How about a 10-kilometre run? How did you feel the first time you ran a 100-metre race? Like your heart would drop, right?
Maybe it was the first time in a long time you were visiting the tracks. Well, did you do it again? You did. How did you feel after the second time? After the third or fourth? By the fifth time, you were no longer a beginner. You were a champion.
That is it. That is just it with courage. It is a process.
Courage is a state of mind, a lifestyle that has to be brought to the fore, grown, developed, and worked. Consider courage a learned skill (anybody at all can learn it and apply it every day), and your reading about building the courage to win in these five easy steps is setting you up on the right path.
Knowing what courage is would not be so profitable in your life until you know how to work it, build it, and apply it to your situation. When you apply it today, and after you have taken that one courageous leap, you show up tomorrow and tell yourself, “I did it yesterday, so I can do it today.”
Then you rinse and repeat, come tomorrow.
When I first started MCing, I would rehearse in front of my mirror for hours. From there, I moved to speaking at small family gatherings, then to local events, and eventually to corporate stages.
Each repetition built a layer of confidence. You cannot skip this step. If you want to build courage in life, you must commit to showing up again and again, even when your voice shakes. The repetition rewires your brain.
What once felt terrifying becomes familiar. What felt impossible becomes routine.
2. Grow Your Capabilities and Capacities Consciously and Deliberately
When humans see and believe that they are growing, there is more encouragement to keep up the work. One way to grow and appreciate growth is to make clear commitments. Things like:
- I will make one marketing sales call each week (even though I am scared about getting a “no”).
- I will tell my friends today how certain remarks make me feel (tick this off and you are on your way to standing up for yourself before strangers).
There are so many examples to make, but the point is to set your small goals, take your short strides, take your little steps (or the big, long, and large ones). Whatever you do, make sure you are deliberate and consistent.
The key to building the courage to win through increasing capacity is to find your pace and enjoy it, while you keep at progress.
If, for instance, you need the courage to show up and speak in front of a crowd, and you have made the commitment to begin speaking more than you ever did, even at your own reflection, then you pace yourself by starting with a small crowd.
You can start with maybe just a handful of the right people: friends, family, loved ones, peers. Start on a topic that is within your area of expert interest. Remember, you are trying to pace yourself and enjoy the process as you build the courage to win.
I made a commitment early in my career to speak at least once every month, even if I was not paid. That commitment forced me to find opportunities and say yes before I felt ready. You can do the same.
If you want to be more courageous at work, commit to one brave action each week. Speak up in a meeting. Ask a question in a group. Volunteer for a presentation. Small commitments compound into large confidence.
3. Build Momentum
There is a magic that comes with deliberate consistency. It is the kind of consistency that eventually produces results. The more immediate results you get, the better the boost to your courage level.
Did you know that with every successful stride comes an assurance of your capabilities?
One positive result equals one step up your momentum ladder. Every step up that ladder generates more power to keep you going.
Remember that courage is a doing word. Having set goals and made clear commitments, you will see that the bigger goal is more in view now that you are making efforts to build the courage to win, than it was when you were being eaten up by fear.
Using the public speaking example from before, a person who has committed to speaking consistently to a familiar audience can gain momentum by going further to speak to an audience with less familiar faces.
Such a person can begin to curate small audiences of 5 to 10 people who are not in their friends and family circle. Deliver a presentation to them every week or every other week. With each presentation, change the audience, and if possible, increase the number. Ask your audience for a review. Publicise the reviews if you wish.
Commit to this and be consistent. That is what gives you momentum.
When you act, your capacity to act grows. Each result reinforces your momentum, and each push of momentum builds another layer of courage and self-assurance.
4. Channel Your Fears
Think about it this way. If you have ever done something or taken on a project that frightened you, you were almost convinced you were going to flop, or the big plan was not going to work. But you did it anyway.
You had your fears, and yet you dared to try. You were probably forced into action by circumstances beyond your control. So you put on your best shoes, employed your best hands, and gave yourself all the pep talks you could. There was no other way; no other option. Either you did it, or you did it, so you did it. With all the fears and uncertainties, you went ahead. And you pulled it off.
Guess what? That was not pure adrenaline. The fears were a signal, pointing you towards what you wanted most.
Remember these when fear knocks:
- The truest courage shows up in the midst of fear.
- Fear can either be a crippler or a catalyst, and it is totally your choice what it becomes.
If you have ever achieved a feat in the midst of your fears, please, courageously and confidently wear it as a medal. It will remind you that you have won once, you can win again, and you will win again.
I still feel nervous before major events. The difference now is that I use that nervousness as fuel. Fear means I care about doing well. Reading my physical symptoms, the racing heart and the quick breath, taught me to treat them as signs my body is preparing me to perform, not signs to stop. This reframe is one of the most powerful personal courage tips I can share. Do not wait until you feel no fear. Act while afraid. That is the real definition of courage.
5. Set Your Mind Right
Ladies and gentlemen, we must agree on this. If you would walk your high lanes on your feet, you must first walk it in your mind.
You are no different from what you think of yourself. If you think you are a poor producer, never meeting up with standards and expectations, you never will.
But if you agree in your mind that you are the most courageous person you know, that you are sure and confident, and the best person for the job, then you are. You must first see yourself in the light before you can spread the light.
In the book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, there is a poem that captures the point of the fifth step to building the courage to win. We have reproduced the poem here:
“If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.
“If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.
“If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
“Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN.”
Your thoughts matter. The truth is, building mental toughness and the ability to bounce back with an “I can do this, I can WIN” mindset takes learning and time.
Your thoughts shape your actions. I start every day with affirmations that reinforce my capabilities, because doubt creeps in the moment you stop actively countering it. I review my past successes, remind myself of events I hosted that went well, and keep a file of positive feedback from clients.
When you are learning how to build courage, you need evidence that you can succeed. Create your own evidence file. Refer to it often.
Conclusion: Keep Building, One Day at a Time
Many people ask me how I stay calm before hosting large events. The answer is momentum. I have done it hundreds of times. I also prepare specifically for each event by researching my audience, rehearsing my opening until it feels natural, and arriving early to familiarise myself with the venue.
These practical steps reduce uncertainty, and reduced uncertainty builds courage. If you need to give a presentation, do not just wing it. Prepare deeply. The preparation becomes the foundation for your bravery.
Building courage is a practice, not a one-time event. Some days you will feel brave. Other days, you will want to hide. Both are normal. What matters is that you keep moving forward.
I built my career on these five steps: repetition, growth, momentum, channelling fear, and mindset. You can build yours the same way. Start with one small action today. Repeat it tomorrow. Watch your courage grow. You have more bravery inside you than you realise. It is time to let it out.