Monday Motivation quote: Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it

There are two types of people: those that say they want to do something, then go about doing it, and those that want to do something but procrastinate their way out of doing that thing.

If you’re the latter, then this article is for you. It is important to consider the real reason for procrastinating. Sometimes, it’s laziness, but most of the time, it’s fear.

We are afraid that we will do something and we will not do it well enough, and it will be a failure. Or we are afraid that we will finish it and no one will like it. Or we are afraid of the process of doing the thing.

Well, if there’s one person who understands fear, it is the activist and former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

Our motivation quote for today comes from Mandela – the political activist, philanthropist, and revolutionary, who was the first democratically elected leader of South Africa.

He served long prison sentences while fighting for the rights of his people. We cannot assume that he was not afraid through it all, neither can we say that he was not tempted, even once, to give in. But he pushed through his fear, and he fought until the end.

Mandela, who lived a life worth emulating, said: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. “

What can we learn from this quote? That the people that say we should all be fearless are not right. Fearlessness is not necessarily a good thing. The body learns from fear. Fear triggers the body to produce adrenaline that helps us make smarter decisions.

Being courageous is not charging into the battle without an ounce of fear, it is moving forward with your plans with the fear that things may not work out the way you want them to, but you will still have tried.

You would have won, simply by conquering your fear.

So, we urge you to start this week with this quote in your mind.

With every task you consider undertaking this week, allow the fear to rush through your body, but make sure that you don’t allow it to consume you so much that you never begin.

Whenever you feel yourself losing the battle to the storm of fear that rages inside you, imagine Mandela’s voice in your mind telling you, “courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it”.

Have a great week!