“I’ve learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” ~Nelson Mandela
On your spiritual path, you will encounter tremendous change. You will be pushed beyond your limits, forced to evolve, and required to face some terrifying life decisions.
There will be moments when it seems like you are releasing everything you’ve ever known: relationships, identities, careers, old habits, former ways of thinking and being. Each time you experience an ending, it can feel as if you are standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down into uncharted territory.
If you leap, it could lead to loss. You may find yourself alone. You might endure grief.
If you stay where you are, you suffer the misery of living in situations that are holding you back or causing you painful friction.
The fear can be paralyzing.
The thing about jumping off cliffs is that there’s no guarantee you’re going to make it.
You leap with blind faith because you believe that you’re going to be okay. Something inside you whispers, “Trust. I’ve got you.”
So, you do. Despite your knees shaking, you take the plunge into the unknown.
If you were fortunate enough to watch someone else leap before you, this wouldn’t feel so scary. You’d have the courage and the reassurance to move past your fears.
But, if you are the trailblazer… the first in your circle to step into the unknown… it may feel like you’re going to perish. If, for instance, you’re the first to…
…move away,
…follow a different path,
…make unconventional choices,
…chase after your dreams, or
…wake up
then, congratulations. That takes an enormous amount of courage. You had the tenacity to break free. You chose change over comfort, and that is not easy to do.
I know from personal experience.
Each scary decision you have to make brings you to the brink of what feels like death: this could go very wrong for me, and I might not make it. I might face rejection or ostracization. I might lose people I love. I might lose money or time. Or worse, my dignity.
You will arrive at the threshold, and there, you will have to make a choice: cross to the other side and never come back, or stay safe, yet miserable, where you are.
Either way, it’s going to cost you something.
What influences our choice to confront our fears and take the plunge is simply this: FAITH.
Faith in ourselves. Faith in our abilities. Faith in the loving God that guides us, protects us, and supports us at all times.
So, how then do we develop this faith to the point where it’s strong enough to overcome our fears? There ARE a few intentional actions you can take. Let’s talk about it.
#1 Strengthen Your Trust Muscle
First, you can work to strengthen your trust muscle. Trust doesn’t come from certainty. It doesn’t come from reading more books or seeking more advice. It isn’t about knowing the outcome ahead of time, or peering into a crystal ball that lets you see the future.
No. Trust comes from practice. It is cultivated by listening to your inner voice and following it over and over again until you believe, without a doubt, that when God places something on your heart, you don’t question it.
Even when others are doubting your decisions or placing seeds of uncertainty in your mind, you maintain a steady course. You don’t hope things will work out for you. You KNOW they will.
Trust comes from the belief that the path you’ve been shown in your mind’s eye is leading you in a positive direction. It is the result of one courageous act after the next, building a body of evidence that proves you are safe, supported, and guided at all times.
Trust leads to faith, because you are not afraid of the outcome.
#2 Perform Daily Devotion
Secondly, faith can be developed in daily moments of devotion to yourself and your Creator. A quiet morning prayer. A moment of gratitude. Taking time to notice and appreciate the ways you’ve been carried and supported in the past. Sitting in nature, listening to the sounds.
Any activity that helps you connect and be present.
Over time, these daily acts of devotion create a bond… one that helps you weather the storms and remain hopeful and trusting. The stronger your connection is to yourself and your Creator, the more unshakeable you become.
You are no longer swayed by outside forces or rocked by the waves. Instead, you move with a sense of security and comfort, knowing that a force beyond words is lovingly guiding you and carrying you every step of the way. There is nothing to fear, because no matter what happens, you are never alone and you are going to be okay.
#3 Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Next, faith and trust need space to grow. If you never challenge yourself to try new things, to take risks, or to step outside of your comfort zone, you will never develop evidence that things can work out for you. And without evidence, your mind will continue presenting excuses for why you can’t or shouldn’t do something.
In order to grow, we must be willing to embrace discomfort. Our faith increases when we repeatedly prove to ourselves that we can do scary things. While things may not unfold as we envisioned or intended, they often don’t turn out disastrously either. By venturing into the unfamiliar and stretching our limits, we gain important insights along the way.
We learn resilience. We learn persistence. We learn resourcefulness, adaptability, and discipline. And above all, we learn that life is about trial and error. None of us receives a map or a guidebook. The only way to learn is by doing, and even by failing.
Faith is created when we hold onto positive belief in ourselves and we don’t give up. Perseverance allows faith to enter spaces where fear once lived.
#4 Practice Discernment
Fourth, faith and trust can be developed by practicing discernment.
With discernment comes clarity, and with clarity comes faith. Taking a leap feels intimidating when we don’t feel certain about our decision. If we rush ourselves, allow others’ opinions to weigh in, or don’t give ourselves the space to listen inside, the path forward can appear clouded.
At times, we believe that looking for answers beyond ourselves will lead us to clarity, but usually the opposite is true. Our minds get overwhelmed with excessive information and conflicting ideas, and before we know it, we find ourselves in a state of analysis paralysis. Making a decision in this state is nearly impossible.
Instead, the thing that can help us the most in having faith in the path forward is to give ourselves sufficient time and space for the next steps to become clear. Discernment is the process of quiet reflection and contemplation that allows this to happen.
Discernment is patient. It’s quiet. It’s slow. It’s the answer that comes when we sit in silence and remain open to guidance. From this place, clarity drops in.
We won’t doubt ourselves or the decision we have to make. We won’t feel the need to ask others for advice or to seek their approval. We just know. And when we know what we’re being called to do, there’s little room for doubt to creep in.
#5 Take Aligned Action
Last but not least, faith is built upon aligned action. You don’t quit your job to start a business when you know nothing about running a business. Well, unless you’re Steve Jobs, of course. No, you plan the steps, you prepare yourself, you study and learn. You enroll in a course or hire a mentor.
And all of this comes AFTER you’ve done the other steps. Your gut told you to act. You took the time to discern, you gained clarity on what you were being called to do. Then, you aligned your actions with the desired outcome.
No matter what decision you are making, if you move from an aligned place (actions, words, and intentions all match), you cannot go wrong. Your intuition and your inner guidance system will never lead you astray.
You will have more faith in yourself and in the outcome if you follow the steps we’ve reviewed here.
To conclude, some of the most important decisions of your life won’t come with certainty. They’ll come with courage.
You won’t receive a map or a net. Instead, you’ll jump directly off the cliff into the unknown, relying on the belief that something will catch you. You’ll wait for clarity, and your instincts will guide you on the steps you should take.
This is how the trailblazers move… the ones who create change for the world. They have the faith and the courage to leap, even when the ground beneath them is hidden or unfamiliar.
They are the wild ones. The dreamers. The rebels. The ones who choose to go against the current, even when it’s scary.
They are the ones who possess a faith so deep that they don’t wait for the path to reveal itself; they create it.
This is what we are here to do. So, go forth… and pave the way.
Much love. ♥
© Divine Soul Guidance 2025
If you’d like to go deeper with this topic, or desire more guidance and support on your awakening journey, I would be honored to work with you. Follow the link on the Contact Me page to get started.
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orker, and spiritual mentor who guides others on their awakening journey to heal from unhealthy patterns and behaviors, free themselves from the past, and step into becoming their most authentic, aligned selves. She is the author of Bravely Becoming © 2021 and the course creator of Soul Awakened, a step-by-step guide to navigating the awakening process.
