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Courage Casters

I’m not a big reality TV fan. 
It seems to me that a lot of the “real-life” conversations and activities are anything but “real-life”. However, I am intrigued by the performance-based reality shows. Contests like “The Voice” and “America’s Got Talent” are appealing because of the vulnerability they require.

Most of the participants on these shows are not trained performers. Sure, some have performed at their local church or with their garage band, but they are basically newbies when it comes to the bright lights. All walks of life are represented and few of their life experiences prepare them for the big stage.

As the competition moves forward, the contestants are whittled down to the best of the best. I know nothing about a song being flat, off pitch, or off beat. But, I can tell one thing though: who is going for it.

The people that ‘go for it’ give me goosebumps.
Good or bad, on pitch or off … I can tell when the performer is all in. 

Why Should We Care?
The courage required to go for it, with zero consideration of failure - is extremely rare. We’ve been conditioned throughout our life to hedge a bet and play it safe. Far better to hold on to a possible excuse than to face the reality that we may not be good enough, we rationalize.

The willingness to explore the possibility that they might not be good enough is exactly what I love about some of the competitors on the shows. They are willing to find out. The courage this requires does not come easily. They fight the same weak voice, inferiority complexes we all do.

At the root of the performances that give us chills is nothing more than a simple story. We are emotional beings and our actions and behaviors are always connected to our feelings. What the courageous performers have discovered is how to tell themselves a story that takes control of those feelings.

Their story that casts courage into their actions. They realize the root of our actions at any moment is simply a reflection of our story, not the specific event. We don’t control the event but we do have control over the story. 

If we control the story, we control the emotion. 
If we control the emotion, we control the action.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
Before we can become intentional with our stories, we first need to recognize when they are taking place in our daily lives. The answer - all the time. We tell ourselves thousands of stories every day without ever realizing it. What a silly thing to do. Instead, we can become intentional with the stories we choose to tell. Here are a few ideas for story topics that help us move towards courage rather than away from it in most situations.

• Gratitude 
  
  • A heart posture of gratitude is hard to beat. When we can appreciate what we have, and sometimes what we don’t have, we become more secure in who and where we are. When we’re good with who we are, courage becomes a natural output. A story of appreciation for what we have rather than one centered on what we don’t have is powerful.
    

• Wholeness
  
  • Without the need to prove our worth, we free ourselves to take risks. Knowing that our value is not tied to the outcome is as liberating as it gets. We don’t need more. We need meaning. A story that focuses on what we have, rather than what we don’t have, and defines our success on how we do rather than what we do, provides just the stability and meaning we need.
    

• Relentless
  
  • When we’re relentless, we know we aren’t quitting. Failure doesn’t exist, or, if it does, we ignore it. This performance, no matter how big, is nothing more than another step along that path. It’s an experiment and we’re scientists. Maybe it goes well, maybe it doesn’t but either way we’re going to give it another go tomorrow. 
    

Courage is vital to our success. If we want to be courageous, we must control our stories. It’s our stories, not our experiences, that determine our actions. Craft your story intentionally.

Checkout Surrender the Outcome on Amazon and order The Score That Matters with Ryan Hawk & Brook Cupps before its release in March 2024. The latest blog from Blue Collar Grit can be found here!