Do you ever feel as though life is calling you into a bigger version of your Self, perhaps a more courageous life?

Have you felt an insistent stirring inside that you can’t ignore any longer?

I believe this is your Soul urging you to play a bigger game, step up into your next highest expression, live a more passionate, joyful and authentic version of yourself!

Following this call is to live your life courageously. It takes great courage to listen to the voice of your dreamer rather than your doubter, tune into the quiet urgings of your Soul rather than the loud demands of the ego, and to choose to follow the path of love rather than the path of fear.

I believe there’s a subtle, but profound difference between acting with courage when faced with a scary or life-threatening situation and choosing to live courageously.

True courageous living requires a mindset shift, from which all your choices flow.

Over the years I’ve identified some key elements needed to live courageously:

*intention

*willingness

*commitment

*faith

1.  INTENTION: As more people have become aware of the Law of Attraction, Intention has become part of our everyday jargon.  Intention means preference, desire of that which you want to create or manifest in your life. Intention and attention go together. The more clear you are about what you want to create and how you want to feel, and the more your attention is focused on those things, the more likely it is that you will manifest the life you want.

On the surface, it doesn’t seem terribly courageous to set intentions for the life you want to live. But for many people, it is a very courageous act.

The idea that you can create a life separate and apart from long-standing family beliefs and expectations, cultural, religious and societal restrictions, and educational limitations, is outside the box of consensus thinking and leaves one open to potential criticism or possible rejection.

2.  WILLINGNESS: Even if you’ve spent time setting intentions, creating vision boards and saying affirmations, you’ve likely experienced some disappointment that all your desires haven’t manifested.  Enter willingness into the equation!

Some of the things you must be willing to do to live courageously are:

     A. Dive deep into your Heart and Soul to discover who and what you are really being called to be, do and have in your life.  Allow the truth of who you are, and the reason you showed up on Earth at this time, to bubble up from deep inside of you.

This is not an exercise of the ego mind, but of the awakening heart, guided by your eternal Soul.

The fear-based agenda of the ego will always default to the known “survival” instinct, which will always keep you playing small.  You can read more about that here.

The Soul, which knows you are an eternal Being and is guided by love, wants you to experience all that life has to offer.

It takes continuous acts of courage and acquired skill to turn down the volume of the ego and turn up the dial of your Soul.

      B. Face inevitable judgment, ridicule and possible rejection from those in your life who want you to maintain the status quo and live out the version of your life that they are attached to.

Whether you grew up in a loving family or a dysfunctional one, there are unspoken and deeply held family beliefs and rules about who you can be, and how happy, successful or prosperous you deserve to be. These patterns are strong and deeply rooted and it takes focused, consistent work to heal them.

These beliefs and messages can be subtle or overt but either way, they act as anchors holding you back from living your most joyful and authentic life.

The same applies to cultural, religious and workplace influences.  You are here to live the life that is uniquely yours, without guilt, blame or shame.

Saying ‘YES’ to yourself and ‘NO’ to the expectations of others, in the face of great resistance, requires great courage.  Read more about claiming your truth in this post.

     C. Raise your vibrational frequency so that you are an energetic match for that which you want to create.  Everything is energy and everything has its own vibrational frequency, including e-motions (energy in motion).

Universal Principle tells us that we attract that which is a vibrational match to us or which is aligned with our underlying belief systems.

If you’ve experienced a lot of dense emotional energy throughout your life, or have taken on beliefs about not being good enough, deserving or worthy, you will attract people, experiences and circumstances that match your ‘energetic blueprint’.

Having facilitated this kind of healing work with clients for many years, I know how much courage it takes to do the deep healing work necessary to raise your vibration so that you can begin to attract more of what you want in your life. To learn more about one of my favorite ways to raise your vibrational frequency check out this article in tapping, Emotional Freedom Technique, by my friend Nick Ortner,

This healing work is what will put the power of the Universe behind your intentions, affirmations and vision boards.

3.  COMMITMENT: To live a truly courageous life you must commit to choose in favor of your dreams and your Soul’s guidance in each moment.

Others may see this as selfish, but it is a revolutionary act of self-love to claim the life you came here to live.

Commit to forgive yourself, love yourself and free yourself from the patterns of thinking, speaking and acting that keep you stuck in your old story. Rinse and repeat!

4.  FAITH: Believing that the Universe has your back, that you’re held in Divine love and supported by Spirit is the spiritual glue that allows you to step fully into your courageous life.

Faith allows you to stand tall in the face of rejection, get back up after defeat, surrender control when you’ve done all you know how to do and step off the cliff even when you can’t see the safety net.

Living courageously requires you ask the questions,

“What is the greatest vision for my life?” and

“Who must I become to empower this vision?”

Are your ready for courageous living?

If so, I’d love to invite you into a conversation where we can explore this together!

From my sacred heart to yours,

Catherine