The Carpenter: A Story About the Greatest Success Strategies of All

Chapter 27Courage

Michael walked out of the burrito shop with more energy than when he walked in. He had agreed to meet the carpenter again in a week to update him on his progress. As he drove home, all he could think about was the word courage. His friend Erwin McManus had once told him that courage is the difference between dreaming of the life you want and living the life of your dreams, but as Michael searched his heart, he didn’t feel very courageous. He knew many stories of courageous people who had changed the world because of their courage. Yet knowing he needed courage to conquer his fears and having the courage to do so were entirely different matters.

He remembered a quote from Nelson Mandela that he had once heard and memorized: “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” Michael realized he had been listening to himself, thinking all that mattered was a successful outcome, but now he realized that what mattered most was that he bounced back from each failure and setback. The future wasn’t certain. His plan may not work. He might fail. But he didn’t have to focus on any of that. All he had to focus on was having the courage to get up and keep moving forward.

“Be courageous,” he told himself as he clenched his fists. Fear had caused him to collapse once but would not again. Life’s too short not to go after your dreams. “Life’s too short to live in fear,” he shouted as he looked in the rearview mirror. He didn’t ...