How to Develop the Courage to Say Yes

The courage to say yes is a gift bestowed on us from our parents and other generations who possessed the virtue of assertive thinking. Unfortunately there are many who do not know how to express their opinion or simply have a fear of saying no. In order to increase your courage in doing and saying yes, you need to be comfortable saying yes.

The way to gain more courage to say yes to yourself and others is to stay positive. A quote by Joe Vitale states, "A mind that is not fearful is a gallant mind." We might be a little more courageous if we looked at our negative thoughts as opportunities. When we chose to think positively rather than negative things, it puts us in a position of being able to overcome fears.

Being able to say yes to ourselves and others means that we choose to view every moment as an opportunity. Rather than seeing negative events or circumstances as a hindrance or a setback, we view them as opportunities to learn and grow. Instead of seeing failure as a negative event, we view it as an opportunity for growth. The next time you are faced with a challenge, take the time to think about how you could have responded differently. Think about how you would feel or what you would have done differently.

Sometimes you will find that when you are faced with a situation that you have found to be intimidating, the best thing to do is not respond. This may seem paradoxical, because you are probably the person that needs to respond but often times our fears and anxieties about saying yes causes us to freeze up and not respond. If you look at the situation objectively, you may see that the person is simply trying to get his/her point across. While this is true, the person still has a great deal of courage to say yes.

The next time you find yourself in a tough situation and you have been asked to speak or write a speech or perform some other sort of speaking act, view it as an opportunity to work on your courage to say yes. You have probably heard the saying, 'practice makes perfect.' This saying holds true. If you really want to experience true courage you need to practice saying yes to things that come to you. By saying yes to new things you are making yourself strong and more confident. The confidence that comes with your true courage will help you accomplish more in life.

To improve your courage to say yes, you need to start rating all of the different situations that you find yourself being in and rating how you respond to each of them. Start rating your responses either highly (positive) or low (negative). Once you get into the habit of rating your answers you will find that you respond differently to each question.

When you first start saying yes to things you may find that they make no sense at all. This is fine. Just try not to give up too soon. It can take some time for your mind to really understand that saying yes does make sense. Once you have understood that saying yes does make sense then you can begin to develop the courage to say yes more.

Having courage to say yes is not something that is easy to do. The best thing that you can do is to simply start facing your fears. Fear is our greatest and most negative of all emotions. By facing our fears we can focus our energy and get ourselves motivated to take action. Faced with our worst fears, we have the ability to rise above those fears and remain strong. If you want to develop true courage you must first confront your own fears.