A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.

Courage looks from outside like a different substance, as though brave people were made of something the rest of us lack. Up close it is mostly duration. The fear is the same size in everyone, and what varies is how long a person stays in the room with it before leaving.

That shifts the question from whether you are brave to how much longer you can hold. When you want to quit a hard conversation or a hard task, try adding a small, specific extension rather than a heroic one, and notice what becomes possible inside it.