Fearless vs Courageous
Every time I get into a significant change in my life, I give much thought to fear and comfort. Namely, how a new routine can throw stability out of the window and replace it with fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of loneliness. Fear of failure. Or, less dramatically, fear of getting lost 200 meters from my house.
For a long, long time, I wish I was fearless. I wish I didn't suffer from change. I wish I wasn't scared of failure. I wish I wasn't nervous to meet new people. I wish I wasn't afraid of getting lost between classes.
But the truth is, unless something really bad happens to my brain, I will never be fearless.
This realization left me with two choices — to adopt a fixed mindset or a growth one. The first means I will focus on the fact that I'm not fearless and will never be. The latter shifts its target to become more courageous, something I can easily turn into a habit and improve upon.
Even though bravery is much more inspiring than fearless, we still emphasize the latter. Just like we are much keener on "born-geniuses" than normal-people-who-work-their-asses-of-to-become-"geniuses".
Michelle Poler got into a challenge that you (and I) might consider: 100 Days Without Fear. Everything is documented through her Youtube Channel and now in the book: Hello, Fears! Through reflections, ideas, and prompts, Michelle encourages the readers to get out of their daily routines and do something outside the comfort zone — something I'm not exactly keen on, but want to get better at.
It's not about swimming with sharks or sleeping in a stranger's couch, but to get familiarized with certain levels of discomfort, as most of our life-goals require that leap-forward.
“We have to be ok leaving the life we are living, to live the life we dream of living.”