Key Competency #9: Courage

Last week, I challenged you all to meet with at least one new person a week to build your personal network. As somebody who attempts to practice what they preach, I have been undergoing this challenge myself, and I have setup several meetings within my place of work to learn more about the company as well as glean information for the team I'm working with.

So far, it's gone pretty well. People have been very gracious and generous with their time and have been more than willing to meet with me. Everything was chugging along great until I got an undesired response...

I was being deflected onto somebody else.
I'm not at all upset with the person for doing this, but it's a morale blow. This is the kind of thing that prevents somebody from going about the networking challenge in the first place. Nobody wants to be rejected, and even though the person was nice enough to put me in contact with somebody else, it was discouraging.

And this is why courage is a key competency. Things like this are going to happen. I hate using cliched phrases, but the old phrase "You can't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game" is very true.

I should also add that most things I say on this blog are easier said than done. If you think I've mastered what I write about, that's just not true. I'm not that good. I have my areas of weakness, and starting the networking challenge was really difficult for me at first. When I drafted my first email requesting the first meet up with somebody, I spent a good long time staring at that "Send" button.

Yes, little things like that can cripple us.

But if we let fear control our lives, nothing good will happen.

For me, the thing that helps me push through these difficult times is doing a sort of "risk analysis" on a situation. I'll use the networking challenge as an example. Here's how I mentally assess something like that:

• What are the potential positive outcomes of attempting to network?
• I meet new people.
• I learn new information.
• I open myself to new opportunities.
• What are the potential downsides of attempting to network?
• I get no response.
• I get an outright denial.
• I get deflected onto somebody else. (Which can be eschewed as a positive.)
• What if I do nothing at all?
• I'll always wonder (with regret) what could have been.

For me, the potential positives greatly outweighed the potential downsides. Moreover, look at that last bolded statement above. That pretty much applies to every situation. You're always going to regret not doing something, especially if the potential positives clearly outweigh the potential negatives.

I hope you find this to be encouraging; quite literally, I hope it fills you with courage. At the end of the day, our worst enemy is often ourselves. We are the reason something doesn't get done. We are the reason we are filled with regret. Take charge of your life by having the courage to make difficult choices. I don't think you'll regret it.