THE NINE PRINCIPLES OF EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT (5)

5. COURAGE

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.
Courage means the willingness to take risks, to accept challenges. Men and women of courage do not worry about failure; they realize the high cost of success.

To succeed, everyone must learn to deal with mistakes and failures. All champions realize that the path to personal excellence is cluttered with obstacles. Arriving at the top is a process that involves many setbacks. High achievers accept this process courageously, understanding that you can’t stretch your limits without encountering some rough moments along the way.

“Steady, men” shouted P.B.S. Pinchback, a Union army captain fighting for freedom in the all-black Corps d’Afrique. Though outmanned and outnumbered, his last words were : “Before we offer our lives, let’s bring back the colors. Faith isn’t faith until it’s all you’re holding on to!”

It takes courage to stand firmly while others cower in fear; it takes courage to remain in honest poverty when others grow rich by fraud; and it takes great courage to stand alone and fight for what you want.

Excerpted From What Makes The Great GREAT?, Dr. Dennis P. Kimbro, Ph.D, First Main Street Books, 1998.