#392: Think You’re Not Brave? Here’s Why That’s a Lie You’ve Been Telling Yourself! #TheCourageEquation

Kevin Lowe: Because you may think that being courageous is just a part of somebody.

Kevin Lowe: It's what somebody is born with. But in fact, today, I'm going to show you the opposite is true.

Kevin Lowe: That I believe being courageous is something that we build, that we only become courageous by the actions we take.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend, if you feel like you could use a little bit more courage in your life, well, hey, today is for you.

Kevin Lowe: I'm your host, Kevin Lowe And this, my friend, is episode 392 Of Grit, Grace, & Inspiration

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Kevin Lowe: Before we dive into exactly what we're talking about in terms of courage, I just want to give you a quick programming announcement.

Kevin Lowe: Starting next week, we are going to just one episode a week here on the podcast.

Kevin Lowe: I figure it's the summer. You probably got big plans like summer vacations, pool parties, all the things.

Kevin Lowe: And well, it just kind of makes sense. So just remember that starting next week will just be going to one episode a week.

Kevin Lowe: It gives me the time to be sure that I'm producing the best content possible.

Kevin Lowe: You're still going to get the amazing interviews.

Kevin Lowe: You're still going to get the solo episodes, just like today's episode.

Kevin Lowe: But instead of every Tuesday and Thursday, it will just be every Tuesday starting next week.

Kevin Lowe: So when you check back on Thursday and you don't see an episode next week, just remember, oh yeah, Kev said, we're only doing one episode a week through the summer months.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend, I just wanted to be sure that I keep you on the down low and keep you up to speed on what's happening behind the scenes here at Great Grace and Inspiration.

Kevin Lowe: Now, back to today's topic of speaking about courage. When it came time to prepare for today's topic, I, of course, did what any person would do in the year 2025.

Kevin Lowe: No, I did not Google the question because that's like so last year.

Kevin Lowe: Instead, I turned to ChatGPT.

Kevin Lowe: Why, of course I did.

Kevin Lowe: And this is the answer that ChatGPT gave me as far as what is courage.

Kevin Lowe: It told me that courage is not the absence of fear, but rather it's the decision to act in spite of it.

Kevin Lowe: I was happy with that definition. I expected it to give me a much longer, more detailed definition of courage, but that just summarized it all up.

Kevin Lowe: Having courage, it's not about being fearless, having no fear in life, but instead it's about taking action despite the fear.

Kevin Lowe: That is courage. That is being courageous.

Kevin Lowe: But so the question, though, that I'm sure that you are asking, but what if I'm not courageous?

Kevin Lowe: What if I don't have all of this courage inside of me? How can I become courageous?

Kevin Lowe: Well, that was the next question I asked.

Kevin Lowe: I typed into ChatGPT asking if there was an equation, a formula that I could follow to become more courageous.

Kevin Lowe: And this is what it told me.

Kevin Lowe: Courage equals purpose times conviction plus action, all divided by fear.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, I guess I should have specified that I wasn't really great at math.

Kevin Lowe: I wasn't thinking I had to go back to algebra class. to figure this equation out.

Kevin Lowe: But apparently Chachapiti knows more than me because it just gave me an algebraic equation like I was not expecting.

Kevin Lowe: Again, the equation for you to be able to be courageous is courage equals purpose times conviction plus action, all divided by fear.

Kevin Lowe: If that makes zero sense to you, Well, we are in the same math class because that makes no sense to me either.

Kevin Lowe: And before I go and text my old algebra teacher for help, I thought, OK, let's break this down into simple terms.

Kevin Lowe: So I took it piece by piece. And this is what I have for you today.

Kevin Lowe: The first thing in the equation it spoke about was purpose.

Kevin Lowe: So in this context, your purpose, of course, it's your why. It's the reason why you care, why you want to take action.

Kevin Lowe: So in terms of your own life and the situations that you might be presented with, why does this matter?

Kevin Lowe: What is at stake if you don't act?

Kevin Lowe: That is the purpose, the first piece to the courage equation.

Kevin Lowe: Then we go to the word conviction. What do you know is right?

Kevin Lowe: I'm talking about your core belief. The thing that you know is right, even if it's uncomfortable, even if knowing what's right isn't the easy thing to decide on. That's the conviction.

Kevin Lowe: And then use the word action in that equation. It's where you take movement.

Kevin Lowe: You start moving forward.

Kevin Lowe: You take the step. You make the leap. You jump out of the plane. You take the action.

Kevin Lowe: And then, of course, all of that, with all the addition and multiplication, was all divided by fear.

Kevin Lowe: And what I'm looking at fear as in terms of this scenario is fear not necessarily being the enemy, but rather just the pressure that's going to help us reveal what's on the inside.

Kevin Lowe: It's the thing that's pushing us forward, the fear of it all.

Kevin Lowe: So now if you're still confused, if you're still thinking this makes no sense and Kev has totally lost me, well, let me dummy this down into a way in which I can easier understand what I'm even trying to say.

Kevin Lowe: Basically, we're not looking to eliminate fear.

Kevin Lowe: We just need to figure out how we can outweigh it, how we can better ourselves, how we can beat the fear.

Kevin Lowe: So the way we're going to do that is by simply raising your level of purpose, being sure that you are crystal clear on your why.

Kevin Lowe: We then add in that conviction. We take bold action.

Kevin Lowe: And then suddenly, when you combine all of that together, fear no longer has the hold on you that it once did.

Kevin Lowe: That, my friend, is courage.

Kevin Lowe: Again, if you can get clear on your purpose, your reason why, why this matters in the first place, multiply that times your conviction.

Kevin Lowe: And taking bold action, my friend, fear no longer has the ability to hold you back any longer because you have become courageous.

Kevin Lowe: Now, in reality, all of that might sound kind of cool, or maybe you're still just confused. Either way, we'll go with it.

Kevin Lowe: But you might still be thinking, okay, that's all fine and dandy, but I'm not courageous.

Kevin Lowe: And if that is you, then I want to challenge that.

Kevin Lowe: Because I have a feeling you're probably way more courageous than you give yourself credit for being.

Kevin Lowe: Because let me ask you this. Have you ever made it through something that you thought you never could do?

Kevin Lowe: Was it something that you knew would break you and yet you came out the other side?

Kevin Lowe: What about when you chose to show up when never going in the first place would have been easier?

Kevin Lowe: Did you show up? Did you go? Or what about when you said that I forgive you to somebody, even though the pain was still fresh?

Kevin Lowe: Even though the easy thing would have been to not say anything at all, you stepped up. You said, I forgive you.

Kevin Lowe: Or let's face it, in the middle of a tough season of life, I bet you got out of bed in the morning.

Kevin Lowe: It didn't mean that it was easy, but you did it.

Kevin Lowe: Why? How? Because you're courageous. You have more courage inside of you than you ever thought you ever did.

Kevin Lowe: I'm here to remind you of it. We've been led to believe that courage is some big flashy thing, thing meant for the evening news about somebody making some courageous act.

Kevin Lowe: And yeah, that is wonderful.

Kevin Lowe: But it's also the things that you do when nobody's watching, when there are no cameras around. There are no reporters to catch your story.

Kevin Lowe: It's you literally being courageous enough to just keep going one more day.

Kevin Lowe: And the most important thing I want you to remember when we're talking about whether or not you're courageous and how to become more courageous is that you don't wait until you feel courageous to take action.

Kevin Lowe: That's not how it works. You take action and courage shows up in the process.

Kevin Lowe: You have to be willing to take that leap. And then that courage factor is born. It is built. It is grown.

Kevin Lowe: So to leave you with some actionable items, I encourage you, if you're in pursuit of living a more courageous life, to be full of courage each and every day.

Kevin Lowe: Then I want you to ask yourself some simple questions. Right when you wake up in the morning, what matters the most to me today?

Kevin Lowe: That's your purpose. What would I do today?

Kevin Lowe: What action would I take if I viewed myself as being brave, as being courageous?

Kevin Lowe: That's your move. And the third question, what fear might try to stand in my way today?

Kevin Lowe: What is the thing that's going to stop me? Is it going to be me getting in my own way?

Kevin Lowe: It's going to be something else. What is it? Name it.

Kevin Lowe: Recognize it. Realize it. Let it know that you see it, you understand it, and you're ready for it.

Kevin Lowe: Now, remember, when we're talking about this, we're talking about real life.

Kevin Lowe: I'm not saying that you have to have the courage to go climb a mountain today.

Kevin Lowe: What I'm saying is you have to have the courage to hit send on an email, to ask the question, to walk through the front door.

Kevin Lowe: My friend, I leave you with one final thought. You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

Kevin Lowe: You are stronger than you know. You're more amazing than you believe.

Kevin Lowe: And you're more courageous than you ever thought.

Kevin Lowe: My friend, just by the simple fact that you're here today, listening to today's episode, it already tells me that you're ready for more.

Kevin Lowe: That you want to be a bigger, better version of you. and it's all possible.

Kevin Lowe: Each and every day when the sun rises and you wake up, you get the choice to live this life how you want to live it.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend, I encourage you to take action, to be bold, to live out the life that you are meant to live.

Kevin Lowe: Remember, starting next week, we're going to just one episode a week each and every Tuesday.

Kevin Lowe: Again, same amazing interviews, more solo content just like this to help make your life a little bit better.

Kevin Lowe: So with that said, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe. And this, of course, was another episode of Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

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