Every time I see a TV clip of a young soldier walking house to house in Afghanistan I am reminded of the courage that they have within. You know their heart is beating, they are hyper vigilant and they are focused. With each step they exhibit courage. What you may not know is all the training and preparation that the young solider has gone through. The military takes training seriously. They want their people to be prepared. They are always seeking ways to improve their training. When soldiers return from combat they are debriefed, strategies are improved, and the lessons learned are taught to others.

Courage comes from training and a conviction that what you are doing is worth the effort. You believe in what you are doing and are willing to do whatever is necessary. An outsider looking at the scene may say 'he has courage' but the person taking the action is able to confidently go forward, because they have the passion and training. They practiced and are confident that when something happens their preparation and instincts will take over.

For you to act with courage it is necessary to have these skills in place:

1. A passion and vision for your future:
   
   The engineers who created the product called WD-40 had a passion for their potential.
   

   "In 1953, a fledgling company called Rocket Chemical Company and its staff of three set out to create a line of rust-prevention solvents and degreasers for use in the aerospace industry, in a small lab in San Diego, California.
   
   It took them 40 attempts to get the water displacing formula worked out. But they must have been really good, because the original secret formula for WD-40®—which stands for Water Displacement perfected on the 40th try—is still in use today." Quoted from the WD-40 website

2. Training
   
   To be your best I'm encouraging you to invest in your education. Take course work, read books, listen to MP3's and review the materials you have gathered. Preparing yourself for the next level requires action.
   
   Hopefully you have taken one of my programs or read Sometimes You Need To Kick Your Own Butt. Have you utilized the material? Some people have organized Pegine Kick Butt Power Pods, which are groups of people who have read Kick Butt and are committed to utilizing the Kick Butt actions and Tips and Tidbits shared in the book. How are you taking charge?
   
   
3. Practice
   
   You have to be willing to mess up, fall on your face, make mistakes and keep practicing until you became proficient. In his book The Talent Code Daniel Coyle reveals how people can crack the code of excellence through deep practice. If you want to be prepared and succeed you must practice with deep and slow repetition and continuous review. Brilliant book, I highly recommend it.
   
   
4. Faith:
   
   You truly believe that you can do what you want to do and succeed. Building faith starts with seeing what you have achieved and being grateful for those achievements. The faith recipe includes being a winner and victorious, by looking at people who have done it before you and being motivated saying to yourself, "If they can do it so can I!" Use these people as role models and mentors. If you find yourself saying "I'm better than them, how come it isn't happening for me?" You just fell into the victim and jealously mode. The moment you enter that realm you must stop yourself!

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