#906 - Erwin McManus - What It Takes To Live A Courageous Life

Did you know that public speaking is the number one fear in the US, even ranking above the fear of death? In Speak With No Fear, public speaker and coach Mike Acker explores why so many people are afraid to address an audience and provides seven strategies to help you overcome that fear. Acker promises that after working through these strategies, you’ll gain the confidence to become a strong, confident, and compelling speaker.

In this guide, we’ll go over each of Acker’s strategies in detail. Since some of the strategies can help you to implement others more effectively, we’ve rearranged them into four “main strategies” and three “supporting strategies.” Our commentary will provide some background information on why the fear of public speaking is so common and so powerful. We’ll also provide tips to help you put Acker’s strategies into practice.

Jack Canfield struck gold as a co-author of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, but it took years for him to achieve success. In The Success Principles, he details 67 principles to help anyone achieve their goals and dreams, based on his study and interviews with hundreds of successful people. The basic formula for success is to identify what you want, know that you deserve to have it, and use the book’s principles to get you there.

The book's Principles include taking responsibility for your life, setting goals and visualizing success, facing your fears, forgiving others so you can move forward, asking for and graciously receiving feedback, and appreciating your successes.

In The Light We Carry, former US First Lady Michelle Obama explains that everyone has the potential to improve the world in a way others can’t since everyone has unique abilities, strengths, and perspectives. Since our potentials are unique, Obama believes we have a responsibility to fulfill them: No one else can fulfill your unique potential to create positive change, so you must do so.

In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of nurturing and sharing one’s unique abilities, strengths, and perspectives. We’ll also discuss the major obstacles to doing so and the tools Obama recommends for overcoming those obstacles. In our commentary, we’ll compare Obama’s ideas to those of self-help authors such as Stephen R. Covey and Maxwell Maltz, and we’ll examine how her suggestions intersect with psychological principles.

Have you ever spent a long time worrying about a problem only to end up feeling stressed and no closer to a solution? In Stop Overthinking, Nick Trenton explains that you were probably overthinking the problem: reflecting on it so much that it made you feel bad. He argues that by adopting stress management skills and replacing your negative thought habits with a positive mental framework, you can stay grounded in the present moment and live a productive life driven by action and control rather than endless worrying.

In this guide, we’ll discuss what overthinking is and how it’s connected to stress and anxiety. Then, we’ll explore ways you can manage stress before, during, and after it happens with various research-based techniques. Finally, we’ll show how you can reshape your negative thinking habits into positive ones. Along the way, we’ll compare Trenton’s strategies with those of other coaches and thinkers such as Tony Robbins (Awaken the Giant) and Judson Brewer (Unwinding Anxiety), and offer additional actionable insights to overcome your negative thought patterns.

Jack Canfield struck gold as a co-author of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, but it took years for him to achieve success. In The Success Principles, he details 67 principles to help anyone achieve their goals and dreams, based on his study and interviews with hundreds of successful people. The basic formula for success is to identify what you want, know that you deserve to have it, and use the book’s principles to get you there.

The book's Principles include taking responsibility for your life, setting goals and visualizing success, facing your fears, forgiving others so you can move forward, asking for and graciously receiving feedback, and appreciating your successes.

Do you feel uninspired at work? Do you dream of making a positive impact on the world but doubt that you’re good enough to do so? According to leadership expert Seth Godin, anyone can choose to create work that changes the world by becoming a “linchpin” whose unique skills hold their organization together. Godin asserts that becoming a linchpin is not only the path to a fulfilling life and career but also necessary for career security in today’s tumultuous job market.

In this guide, we’ll identify what beliefs make up the “linchpin mindset” and explain the steps you can take to become a linchpin and start living your most fulfilling work life. Additionally, we’ll supplement Godin’s advice with counterpoints that will help you implement his ideas wisely as well as tips for bosses who aim to nurture and manage linchpin employees.

Released in 2010, The Gifts of Imperfection is a New York Times bestseller by researcher, speaker, and author Brené Brown. The book explores the theory and practices behind “Wholehearted living”: a concept Brown devised after years of research into shame, vulnerability, and self-worth. According to Brown, living Wholeheartedly will help you to cultivate worthiness: the conviction that you are good enough as you are and that you deserve to be loved.

In this guide, we’ll explore how Brown conceives worthiness and shame and how her approach to these topics compares to her contemporaries' work. Furthermore, we’ll discuss Brown’s 10 strategies for living Wholeheartedly and the research that underpins (and occasionally challenges) them.

You were born to be a badass, but are you getting the most out of your life? In You Are a Badass, author Jen Sincero helps you identify and change the self-sabotaging thoughts and behavior patterns that are stopping you from living up to your potential.

Creating a better life requires only one simple shift: Going from wanting to change your life to deciding to change your life. This book will explain why you are the way you are, how to change what you don’t like, and how to love yourself as you create a new, awesome life.

How can you improve your self-esteem? In The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, psychotherapist and self-esteem expert Nathaniel Branden argues that the key lies in your behavior: What you do is the most important factor that determines your self-esteem.

In this guide, you’ll learn exactly how to behave to improve your self-esteem, including by living with awareness and taking responsibility for your life and actions. You’ll also learn why so many techniques people recommend for raising self-esteem just don’t work. Along the way, you’ll discover what self-esteem actually is, why it matters, and how others affect it. Throughout, we’ll examine how modern scientific research supports or weakens Branden’s ideas (originally published in 1994), and we’ll provide practical strategies for implementing those ideas and improving your self-esteem.

In The Everyday Hero Manifesto, Robin Sharma promises that each of us has the potential to achieve great things—we don’t need superpowers or incredible natural talents to do so. By following the system laid out in this book, you can unlock your heroic potential, realize your dreams, and become a force for good in the world.

Our guide begins with a brief introduction laying out Sharma’s premise for this book: that you can accomplish great things. We’ll then discuss Sharma’s suggestions for strengthening your mind, body, and heart to fulfill your heroic potential. Finally, we’ll go over the guidelines Sharma lays out for how an everyday hero should act. Our commentary will provide points of view from other self-help books about how to unlock your potential, exploring Sharma’s suggestions more deeply and providing actionable advice on how to get started on your self-improvement journey.

In The Light We Carry, former US First Lady Michelle Obama explains that everyone has the potential to improve the world in a way others can’t since everyone has unique abilities, strengths, and perspectives. Since our potentials are unique, Obama believes we have a responsibility to fulfill them: No one else can fulfill your unique potential to create positive change, so you must do so.

In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of nurturing and sharing one’s unique abilities, strengths, and perspectives. We’ll also discuss the major obstacles to doing so and the tools Obama recommends for overcoming those obstacles. In our commentary, we’ll compare Obama’s ideas to those of self-help authors such as Stephen R. Covey and Maxwell Maltz, and we’ll examine how her suggestions intersect with psychological principles.