Developing Mental Fitness Takes Courage
Feb 15, 2023
Why did the Chicken Cross the road? Duh, to get to the other side. Why did the chicken cross halfway across the road? She wanted to lay it on the line. Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road? He didn’t have any guts.
This is Mental Fitness Fridays. I’m Hans Skulstad.
What do these jokes have to do with Mental Fitness? A lot. Crossing the road from good to great takes some guts. It takes courage.
Are we just born with it? The mental toughness myths would say yes. That’s crap. It can be practiced. Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s acting despite it.
Taking risks develops courage. I don’t mean risks like driving drunk or jumping off cliffs.
It means laying your ego on the line and going all in. Trying hard. All humans have a universal fear of being judged for believing in themselves. They get called try hards, because we want them to stop threatening us with greater effort and commitment.
Think of all the things we wouldn’t have if people didn’t believe in themselves.
Crossing the road means taking risks but not being reckless. Look both ways, then go. Don’t be Goldilocks — waiting for just right. Cross the white line. Then the yellow. Just a dash more — keep going. The other side seems a long way away. Sometimes it appears as a four lane highway when it’s actually just two.
Encourage yourself. Courage means having faith and trust — that you can handle a cracked egg. Believe you will find a way. That’s mental fitness.
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