Why haven’t you done “it” yet? Why haven’t you taken the leap and started that business? Why haven’t you cut ties with those toxic people? Why haven’t you stood up for yourself? Why haven’t you taken that trip, put yourself out there, run for office, made a TikTok video, and shown the world your art? While you may have masked the answer to these questions as a case of timing, obligations, or money, it’s more likely it has to do with courage – taking the risk of failure. And I can only call a spade a spade because I’ve struggled to. And this may be why I picked up Courage is Calling, by Ryan Holiday. And I absolutely loved it!
For the past couple of months, I’ve been reading more than writing (as evidenced by the number of blog posts I’ve been publishing), and exercising more than sitting. I got into a bit of a rut and felt the need to regroup (again). And truth be told, I was feeling a bit of imposter syndrome – how the hell could I write about personal development when I was feeling stuck?! This book has helped to get me off my a#$ and get back to work. What I had convinced myself was about timing and the economy was really all about courage, or maybe I should say my lack thereof. But let’s get back to the book and how it can help you.
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I love how Courage is Calling is rooted in historical events and figures while creating the correlation between let’s say a warrior and your decision to apply for a new job or start a new business. While it may seem there is no comparison between the two, when you break it all down, it’s just a matter of courage – courage to start, courage to prepare, and courage to take the leap.
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Fear Is Not The Problem
Holiday reminds us it’s not the feeling of fear that is the problem. We all feel fear. It’s in the decision to act in spite of the fear. It’s taking the risk even when you know you’ll likely be judged. It’s taking the leap even when the odds are against you. It’s standing up to the bully even when nobody else will. It’s refusing to be silenced, stopped, or forced to do something that you know is wrong. It’s being willing to do what’s hard instead of what’s easy. It’s believing enough for all those that don’t believe. It’s pushing through the fear and taking a chance. And it’s living without regret because at least you tried and you’ll never know if you’ll succeed without trying.
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Courage is Calling is chock full of in-your-face proclamations regarding why you haven’t yet – haven’t done all the things you want to do. I personally sometimes need this approach so I appreciated it. Holiday eases the sting of what we know to be true with the remembrance of our purpose on the planet and the unique and beautiful gift we are here to provide each other. He reminds us when we withhold that gift out of fear, we deny the world of the unique perspective only we can provide.
I appreciated the historical references of leaders and the challenges they had to overcome to take strong stands against the odds. Honestly, I didn’t pay much attention in high school history class so reading the stories resulted in me wanting to learn more about the individuals as well as the various wars and conflicts discussed in the book.
This book is for anyone that ever struggles with courage – doing the thing, standing up for what you believe, saying no, speaking your truth, living your life on your terms, or even telling the family for the first time that you won’t be at Christmas this year. I read this book using a Kindle and highlighted so much of the content, I’ll basically be reading the book again if I just read the highlighted sections. There are a few books I own that I read over and over again and I have a feeling this will be one of them.
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