Are there things in your life you wish you had the courage to do but you just don’t feel brave or adventurous enough to try? If that’s the case, how do you get to feel more brave so that you can do these things you dream of doing?
Methods to be more brave
1.) Positive self-talk
Give yourself pep talks with positive, self-soothing talk. Example phrases you can use:
- I can do this!
- The worst that can happen isn’t really that bad
- Chances are it’ll all be ok
- Loads of people have successfully done this before, so chances are I can do ok too.
- I’ve done similar things before and it’s been ok.
- If I do this, maybe good will come of it.
- If I do this maybe I’ll discover something new that I’ll enjoy.
2.) Reduce negative self-talk
Try not to think negative things too much. Things are scary to do mostly because we THINK about all the bad things that can happen if we do them. Usually it’s things like “I’ll embarrass myself / people won’t like me / people will make fun of me / something bad will happen..” etc. Without these thoughts, the things in themselves are neutral and without the negative thoughts they wouldn’t scary at all. We know this because a lot of kids, before they’ve learned to think negatively, are often rather fearless!
So actively shush any negative thoughts in your mind – don’t give them airing time. Just get on with the task you want to do. In other words: just do it.
3.) A possible exercise (though I’m not sure about this one)
One exercise that has helped conjuring positive feelings about something specific is remembering previous times you’ve felt those positive feelings. However, recalling times you’ve been brave may be a bit of a strange “positive” feeling because most of the times you have felt brave, it was because you did something despite feeling very scared, so the dominant vibration that’s active in those memories may be the fear. For this reason I’m not sure if this exercise is very helpful but I only discovered this fact after I’d already done the exercise!
Do you think it’s possible to activate motivation and bravery from remembering times you’ve been brave before? Let me know in the comments below.
According to the Law of Attraction that’s taught by Abraham Hicks, when you think about a positive thought long enough (e.g. “I have been brave in these examples..”) it helps attract more feelings of bravery (as long as the dominant vibration is the positive end of the stick). The theory is that eventually you’ll feel stronger and braver to help you do that thing you want to do.
Below is a section of my own personal list to help get your started with ideas for your list:
- Trying new things bravery:
- I was brave when I got through my first day in a new school.
- I was brave when I went to a dance / drama / choir / other class for the first time even though I didn’t know what I was doing and thought I’d look ridiculous and embarrass myself.
- I was brave when I dared to try a new hobby class even though I didn’t know if I’d like it or if I’d be any good at it.
- I was brave when I went down the super-steep slide in the waterpark.
- I was brave when I first agreed to ride my bike without training wheels.
- I was brave when I first took the bus / train by myself.
- I was brave when I sat my first ever exam.
- I was brave when I first dared to try cooking something by myself without adult supervision.
- I was brave when I first explored a new, strange area of the city by myself even though I was scared I may get lost.
- I was brave when I tried eating alone in a restaurant for the first time.
- I was brave when I first went to a cinema all alone.
- I was brave when I went to a gym for the first time in my life, not knowing what to expect, by myself.
- I was brave when I agreed to take the wheel and drove a car for the first time.
- I was brave when I flew by myself on an airplane for the first time.
- I was brave when I went down a zip-line for the first time even though I was scared.
- I was brave when I petted a even though I was scared.
- I was brave when I tasted a food I thought looked disgusting.
- I was brave when I dared to send my piece of writing / artwork to a competition to be judged.
- I was brave when I sent out emails / letters asking for a job, without knowing if they’d take me.
- People-related bravery:
- I was brave when I was the first one to strike up a conversation with someone I didn’t know, even though I didn’t know if they’d like me or if I’d like them.
- I was brave in school plays when I appeared on stage in front of hundreds of people.
- I was brave in the school concert where I played the piano in front of a crowd.
- I was brave when I successfully stood up in front of the class and gave a speech.
- I was brave when I told someone they hurt my feelings, even though I didn’t know how they’d take it.
- I was brave when I went to my first dance party even though I didn’t know what it would be like.
- I was brave when I first agreed to meet a penpal whom I’d never met before.
- I was brave when I dared to say “no” when I didn’t want to do certain things even though I was scared it would mean they wouldn’t like me anymore.
- I was brave when I told someone I really liked them, even though I didn’t know if they liked me back.
- I was brave when I first told my mom and dad that I had romantic feelings for someone / had a date, even though I was embarrassed about how they’d react.
- I was brave when I told someone I wanted them to kiss me even though I didn’t know how they’d react.
- I was brave when first posted my personal words on a blog for all to see even though a part of me felt it was exposing.
- I was brave when I told people I care about really private things about myself when I wasn’t sure how they’d react.
- Health-related bravery:
- I was brave enough agree to get an injection
- I was brave when I let the doctor take blood