Liberate Your Power: Finding The Courage 🔥
- Headmistress Jill Miller
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
This is the third installment of the Liberate Your Power series. You can catch Liberate Your Power: Building Confidence here and Liberate Your Power: Building Belief here.
Liberate Your Power is part of the Power series of classes I offer, along with Embrace Your Power and Speak Your Power. I'm sharing the content of this class in a series of blog posts. I’m including the pages in the workbook to give you a place to follow along and do the exercises from class.
Finding the Courage
Once we have the confidence and the belief that we can achieve what we want, the next step is to find the courage to liberate our power.
Taking risks is scary. It takes courage to go from thinking and talking about taking action to actually taking the leap to go for it.
Here are ideas to help you find courage:
See yourself as courageous.
When we describe ourselves as “courageous,” we are more likely to act courageously. Reminding yourself that you’re a courageous person when you’re feeling vulnerable can activate a psychological boost and inspire you to face the day with greater confidence.
Remember and recognize all the courageous steps you’ve already taken in your life. Whether it's coping with a chronic health condition, graduating from college, or overcoming personal challenges, acknowledging your past bravery can motivate you to act courageously in the future.
Let go of what you fear losing.
When we think about changing something in our lives, we spend more time worrying about what we’ll lose than what we’ll gain. Holding onto the fear of what we’ll lose keeps us anchored in the past. Often, before we can start something new, we must give something up.
Ask yourself: What are you willing to give up to get what you want?
“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Master Yoda
There is strength in numbers.
You don’t have to be courageous by yourself. You can join others or ask others to join you.
Social connections bolster courage and remind us that we are not alone in the world. Whether you connect with one person or one hundred, standing side by side builds the strength and inspiration necessary to be bold. Risks feel less daunting when we work together.
Adopt a transformational vocabulary.
The language you use to describe your experience shapes that experience.
When you change what you say to yourself, your experience changes.
By varying the words we use to describe our experiences, our mindset shifts.
Adopting a transformational vocabulary allows us to convert the words we say to ourselves into something more purposeful and impactful.
The human brain likes to take shortcuts. To conserve energy, it keeps us stuck in patterns that don’t always help us.
So, when we talk to ourselves, we continually use the same words on repeat. Over time, these words become loaded with all kinds of deep meanings that are personal to us. All the labels we assign to these words keep us stuck. Let’s take a closer look.
Write down all the emotions you’ve felt in the past week.
Isn’t it interesting that there are 3,000 words to describe emotions? But when we think about it, it’s amazing how few words we regularly use to describe how we feel.
Have you ever taken the time to think about which words you habitually use and how they affect your life and well-being?
Negative self-talk and negative emotional labeling stem from the self-limiting beliefs we talked about in the Building Confidence installment. These beliefs affect all our emotions, which in turn impact our decisions, behaviors, and life experiences.
The problem is that our usual word choice doesn’t allow us to consciously choose the words to describe our emotions.
When we experience distressing emotions, we unconsciously go back to our habitual vocabulary. The words we associate with our experiences shape our reality. Words have a biochemical impact on the body. When you use a word like “devastated,” you’ll produce a very different biochemical effect than if you say, “I’m a bit disappointed.”
It’s easy to see how we feel when other people speak to us. For example, if someone said to you, “I think you’re mistaken,” versus “I think you’re wrong,” versus “You’re lying,” you’ll have a different biochemical response to these phrases.
The same exact process happens with the words you use to speak to yourself. When you learn to change your words, it transforms your mindset and life. This is because you’re changing the automatic responses.
Could it really be this easy? Changing the words we habitually use to describe our emotions changes our feelings and the quality of our lives. Why not give it a try?
Start small. Note the negative words you use regularly and ask yourself how you can change them. Can you be “peeved” instead of “devastated?” On the other hand, can you feel “ecstatic” instead of “pleased?” Or reframe a “problem” into a “challenge.”
Choose one word that has a negative label for you.
Replace that word with another that will transform how you experience the situation.
When you hear yourself using the past description, repeat the phrase with your new and improved vocabulary.
This is not to say there won’t be times when you feel “angry” or “enraged,” but wouldn’t it be nice to have that be a conscious choice rather than a habitual negative reaction?
Shifting your mindset is the key to shaping your decisions, actions, and life. This is how you create a choice instead of a habitual reaction.
Adopting a transformational vocabulary gives you the power to adjust your experiences in life by lowering the intensity of overwhelming emotions, so they no longer control you. This same practice can also take positive experiences and increase them to even greater heights of pleasure.
If you'd like to turn in your homework and earn a badge for this class like we do in our in-person classes, email me at Jill@FinishingSchoolForModernWomen.com.
Next installment: Overcoming Obstacles
Did you know I've published a book? Learn more about it here!
Because We’re Never Finished
The Finishing School for Modern Women, located in Wichita, Kansas, offers classes to help women find their authentic selves, not because we need finishing, but because we’re never finished. We bring together women of all ages to learn from experts and each other how to claim our power in business, finance, communication, and life.
To learn more about what we do:
https://www.finishingschoolformodernwomen.com for our classes and free social membership.
Contact Us
Phone: 316-841-8927 Email: jill@finishingschoolformodernwomen.com
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