Unlocking Your Inner Courage: Five Winning Strategies to Achieve the Life You Want and the World We Need

by Melvyn L. Fein

Overview

Courage is not just for heroes. It is a virtue that everyone can possess. This book will teach you how to develop the courage you never knew you had.Building upon his fifty-year career as a clinician and professor of sociology, Dr. Melvin Fein demonstrates why courage is the key to leading a successful life. He presents a five-step, reality-tested program that enables ordinary people to live up to their potential. Fein begins by explaining how to find "safe places" that provide a refuge from worries and threats. Then, with refreshing candor and common sense, he supplies tactics for tolerating fears and evaluating the best means of dealing with them. Next he demonstrates strategies that produce winning results.In our increasingly complex, middle-class society, there are few guarantees. Fein convincingly argues that self-reliance is the most dependable approach. Freedom from fear is liberating. But it must be earned. This book shows that this is not only possible, but within the grasp of the average person.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633881693
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/21/2016
Pages:	325
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Melvyn L. Fein is professor of sociology at Kennesaw State University and a certified clinical sociologist. He is the author of fifteen previous books, including Evolution versus Revolution: The Paradoxes of Social Change; Redefining Higher Education: How Self-Direction Can Save Colleges; Post-Liberalism: The Death of a Dream; and Human Hierarchies: A General Theory. Dr. Fein is also editor of the Journal of Public and Professional Sociology.

Table of Contents

1 Land of the Free, Home of the Brave 9

A Semi-Reformed Coward 9

Pioneers and Patriots 17

The Wretched Refuse 25

2 From Safety Net to Feather Bed 33

The Perils of Success 33

Nothing Offensive 39

Nothing Painful 47

No Failures 51

Moral Courage 54

3 Integrated Fear Management 59

Emotions 59

Socialization 67

Social Courage 73

Integrated Fear Management 79

4 Ensuring Safety 85

A World of Hurt 85

Back on the Horse 92

Safe Places 96

Bad Places 108

5 Incremental Tolerance 113

Near and Remote Misses 113

Desensitization 117

A Common Process 122

Getting Started 128

6 Evaluating Our Fears 139

Psychotherapy? 139

Types of Danger 145

The Degree of Danger 159

Available Resources 161

7 Sorting Potential Responses 165

Doing Nothing 165

Fighting Back 172

Walking Away 180

Losing 187

8 Winning 191

Gaining Confidence 191

Half a Loaf 194

Planning 198

Knowledge and Skills 202

Alliances 210

Self-Sabotage 214

9 Saving Ourselves 219

The Collectivist Trap 219

The Middle-Class Frontier 225

Self-Direction 231

The Occupational Frontier 235

The Family Frontier 240

10 Personal Liberation 247

Making Choices 247

The Virtues of Freedom 253

Two Intrepid Pioneers and Me 260

Custer versus Sherman 267

Epilogue 273

Why Not Cowardice? 273

Notes 277

Index 297

Editorial Reviews

"In Unlocking Your Inner Courage, Melvyn L. Fein uses historical and personal examples to explore courage—not just physical courage, but also social, emotional, and moral courage. Much of life requires what he refers to as ‘normal bravery,' which is not the dramatic physical acts that we often think of, but moving past your fears to accomplish the day-to-day. Building on his previous work, Fein explains his concept of integrated fear management. He shows not just how to deal with your fears instead of trying to hide from them, but how to use them to your advantage.”—Donald Woolley, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University “Dr. Fein summons us to courage in our personal lives but he doesn't stop there. He means also to help us summon courage as a cultural resource. His timely book addresses a nation that has increasingly sought comfort in place of challenge. He teaches us how to rediscover the Pilgrim, pioneer, sodbuster, and civilian soldier who faced gut-level fears and kept going. Such courage, he says, ‘has gone out of fashion,' but it is still within our reach. Drawing fearlessly on his own story of insecurities, which he has faced and overcome, and on his wide experience as a therapist, Fein weaves together national history, personal suffering, and brilliant analysis. Courage, Fein says, ‘must be earned,' and he presents a compelling testimonial to that truth.”—Peter Wood, president, National Association of Scholars “Dr. Melvyn L. Fein is a very astute observer of society and human interactions. In Unlocking Your Inner Courage, he has given us a number of very effective tools and strategies for overcoming our largely self-imposed limitations. He is an innovative thinker oriented toward practical solutions.”—Kerwin Swint, author of Mudslingers and The King Whisperers “Dr. Fein's Unlocking Your Inner Courage is a jargon-free book potentially useful for the layman and clinical practitioner alike. He argues that one ought to rationally analyze and face, rather than succumb to, one's fears. Courageous life choices are well thought-out choices for which the consequences of potential actions are evaluated, derived from knowledge, and controlled emotionally. To accomplish this inner courage, Dr. Fein offers several strategies that are pragmatic and easily understood.”—Albert E. McCormick Jr., PhD, M2 Research and Consulting “Ever since Cicero's De Officiis, fathers and mothers have written advice to sons and daughters about how to get along in the world and how to make moral sense of their lives. In the spirit of that tradition, Melvyn L. Fein offers a realistic and encouraging account of the challenges of both recognizing and applying what he calls our inner courage. Fein's life journey as vocational counselor, therapist, and sociologist has given him the insights of both knowledge and experience. The world is filled with cowardice and courage, each measured against both everyday life and moments of truth. Fein addresses them all with well-met, good advice.”—Jonathan B. Imber, professor of sociology, Wellesley College “Melvyn L. Fein is a distinguished sociologist who loves to teach, debate, and bring the knowledge of the academy to a general audience. No one I know doubts his courage and integrity. Unlocking Your Inner Courage is based on leading scholarship but also is deeply personal. Fein uses historical and contemporary examples and an abundance of common sense to help his readers overcome their fears and achieve their true potential.”—Thomas A. Scott, PhD, Professor Emeritus of History, Kennesaw State University

From the Publisher