On Courage
Every day, before we see a single patient or head into the first meeting of the day, we may already be scanning for danger. We anticipate catastrophe. We brace for judgment. We double-check, hold back, hedge. This is not a character flaw. It is our sympathetic nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do — protecting us from the tiger.
The clinical and strategic mind is exquisitely trained in vigilance. We are rewarded for caution, for thoroughness, for not getting it wrong. And so fear — of missing something, of being wrong, of being seen as insufficient — becomes the default. It shapes which conversations we initiate, which decisions we make confidently, and which ones we delay until we feel more certain, more ready, more sure.
Most of us never name it as fear. We call it diligence.
“Fear is the belief in danger. Courage is the willingness to confront it.”
— David R. Hawkins
WHAT COURAGE ACTUALLY IS
Courage is taking action outside of your comfort zone, even when there is fear. It is movement — forward movement— despite fear and doubt. It is the clinician who has the difficult conversation with a patient, not because it feels easy, but because the patient needs to hear it. The leader who makes a call under uncertainty because waiting would cost more than deciding. The colleague who says what others are thinking but no one will say aloud. You - permitting yourself permission to dream bigger – ask for what you need and take the first small step to what you want.
What makes that forward movement easier is not motivation or resilience. It is knowing why you are moving.
THE ROLE OF YOUR WHY
There is a meaningful difference between the motivation that comes from dashboards, productivity metrics, and performance reviews — and the motivation that comes from the reason you entered this work in the first place – making a difference in the lives of our patients. Finding someone or something to fight for drives courage.
When your WHY — serving patients, alleviating suffering, being present for someone in a frightening moment — is stronger than your FEAR, it becomes easier to act despite it. Something else happens too: when you are genuinely aligned with your purpose, you rewire your brain to notice possibilities. The right opportunity, the right conversation, the right moment appears to arise at just the right time.
REFLECT - What vision, intention, or goal is pulling you forward right now? How is fear holding you back, and what might you need to step through it?
THE TRAP OF WAITING
When fear is present, we reach for information. We tell ourselves we will act when we know more, when the timing is better, when we are more prepared - when we have slept more or finished our to-do list. But I know that the cost of hesitation is real: every time we wait for certainty before trusting ourselves, we confirm to our own nervous system that we cannot be trusted. And the doubt deepens.
The antidote is smaller than you think. Not a bold leap. A single small step, taken before you feel ready — followed by the observation that nothing catastrophic happened. That small win is data. The nervous system updates. Trust rebuilds, slowly, the way strength rebuilds: incremental, almost imperceptible, and then suddenly, the weight you thought was impossible feels lighter than it did last month.
REFLECT — What is one action you have been delaying, waiting for the right time? What would a small first step look like? Who could help?
THIS WEEK’S PRACTICE – ONE ACTION A DAY
Identify what is scary but necessary in your life and write down 5 small steps (actions) that will move you toward it this week.
Then do ONE every day.
Reflection questions to shape your week - choose one and think about it on a walk outside in nature:
What fear might get in my way today? How can I respond with courage instead of letting it get in my way?
What is my small thing outside of my comfort zone that would help me grow today?
Is there a conversation that I have been avoiding? What is a small step that I could take toward it?
Who or what matters enough to me that I’m willing to be courageous on its behalf?
Tomorrow, if I were to look back on today, what would make me say I was courageous?
Fear is the belief in danger. You learned that belief well — it has served you. But you also get to choose, again and again, to move anyway. That choice is not the absence of fear. It is what courage looks like from the inside.