Understanding Courage Questions

Welcome back to “New Man, New Woman, New Week.”  Today I am fired up to talk to you about something really special that I’ve seen all successful people do.

Now keep in mind, highly successful people, right, they have challenges, they get knocked down.

But one thing that remains a constant with really successful people, they’re courageous.

So today, we’re gonna talk to you today about courage, and at the end, we’re gonna tie it together with something I like to call “courage questions.”

What are courage questions?

Courage questions are all about that feeling that you get in your gut, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

It’s when you’re in a relationship and you feel like, “Okay, if I say this right now, we’re gonna build the relationship, we’re gonna get the desired result, we’re gonna get the outcome, and then you get fearful, and then you choose to not say what was on your mind.

You choose to not say what was in your gut.

We all do that at some point in time.

So today, it’s about thinking about the fact, what if you chose to take action from this day forward to ask those courage questions?  When something’s in your gut, you say it because you know it’s gonna drive the desired result and outcome in that relationship, whether it’s personal or professional.

Story of Courage

So here’s one of my favorite stories of courage.

This is like childlike mindset.

You know the great thing about kids in a childlike mindset?  Kids just say what’s on their mind.

So this is a beautiful story.  Now you know what, it’s one of those things it’s kind of just like not that big of a deal, but hey, it happened, and I’ve gotta just share this with you.

So we have this neighbor of ours.  Now if you know our neighbors, and potentially you do, today we’re gonna protect their identity.  We’re just gonna call him Doug, okay?  So Doug lived three houses down from us, and every single day, I’m talking 365, Doug was parking this minivan out in front of our house every single day.

Now here’s what’s interesting.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking.

Does the guy have a garage?

Yes, he’s got a garage.

Does he have a spot in front of his house to park it?

Yes.  And a driveway.

But for some reason, he’s choosing to park the car in front of our house.  Now I’m in the kitchen one afternoon with my wife Amy, and I said to Amy, I’m like, “Babe, what is the deal?  Why does Doug have to park his car in front of our house every single day?”  And it’s just one of those things that was just getting to me.  And I’m like, “Do we need to put a sign in front of the house right in the yard that says, ‘Don’t park your car there anymore?’” and that was the end of the conversation.

About three months later, I get home from work, and I’m out on the porch, about 5:30 in the evening, and I’ve got my little man with me, Isaac, at the time he was 4 years old, and here comes Doug, walking out of his house, walking down the street.

And Doug’s walking down and Doug says, “Hey Ben, how are you doing?” And I said, “Oh, hey, Doug!  How are you?”

And the next thing you know, here’s Isaac standing here, and Isaac raises his hand and he says, “Hey Doug, we’re gonna put a sign in our yard that says, ‘Don’t park your car there anymore.’”

Oh my goodness.

Doug is ready to take off on a sprint.

I’m going back in the house, and here’s Isaac, my little man, who’s sitting there smiling like this saying, “That’s right; I did daddy’s dirty work!”  And you know the best part of the story?  They don’t part their car there anymore.

Now here’s the deal right?

That’s just an easy simple story.  But what’s the real moral of the story?

I couldn’t say to my neighbor or ask the question, “Why are you parking your car in front of the house?”  I had to have my little man do my dirty work.

Define Your Courage Questions

So what are those courage questions for you?  What are those simple little action steps that you can take to be more courageous in your life?

You know what drives great success?  Courage.

You know the types of questions I’m thinking about, the kinds of questions we’re talking about.  You’ve had that feeling in your belly.  From this day forward, choose to act on that feeling that you get.  Have that childlike mindset.  Ask those courage questions for you in your life on your journey in your relationships.

Thank you so much to all of you.  I’m having so much fun being with you every single week, watching all the new subscribers that are joining us, people that are following us @ContinuedFight on Twitter.  This is so much fun just driving home these lessons that I’ve learned from other people to help you on your life’s journey.  You know I’m fired up for next week for “New Man, New Woman, New Week.”  Until then, go do great things.