Taking Courageous Steps Into The New Year

Posted on January 02, 2008 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

“This is the true joy – the being used for a purpose recognize as a mighty one”
- George Bernard Shaw

In my work with various leaders, I have found that one of the most powerful prohibitors of a person reaching their full potential as a leader (and person) is fear.

During World War II (1944), thousands of American paratroopers jumped into Normandy to stop the advance of Hitler’s army.  Military records show there were four soldiers who refused to jump that day.  As I ponder those four men, I can not help but image the rest of their lives.  I can only imagine what kind of excuses, rationales, or repressions they must have had to employ during the rest of their lives to explain why they refused to jump with their comrades that day.  I believe (in some ways) the lives of those four men ended that night over Normandy when they gave into their fear.

We all die in the end, but there is no reason to die in the middle of our lives.  When a leader refuses the opportunity to grow, or to take a courageous risk, they are forced to perform ever greater acts of repression to explain to themselves, and others, why they have chosen

not

to embrace all the mysteries and adventures our calling as a leader has to offer.

Fear is the most paralyzing of all human emotions.  Fear stops us from trying, daring, and succeeding – therefore our fears must be courageously confronted so we never find ourselves saying, “I wish I had. I should have. or, Why didn’t I?” As radio and TV personality Bob Proctor wrote, “We come this way but once.  We can either tip-toe through life, and hope that we get to death without being too badly bruised - or we can live a full, complete life where work to achie our goals and realize our wildest dreams.”

The courageous life does not tip-toe into the future.  It accepts the invigorating challenge of seeing one’s Purpose in life realized.  It understands that on the journey toward the summit of our dreams, fears and obstacles will need to be confronted and overcome along the way.  The path will not always be smooth, and the climb will not always be easy, but if we in fact step through our fears, and conquer the obstacles, we will join an elite club of those who, throughout history, have successfully embraced their heroic calling.  Individuals who clarified what they wanted their life to be about, chose to believe in both who they are and where they were going, and then tenaciously stepped out in a new direction… in the direction which led them toward their dreams.

In this new year, my challenge for you is to do the same. 

As the Lord commanded Joshua, “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified of them…” (Joshua 1:9)