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Living
Boldly® e-Zine Archives
Take the
Risk - What are you waiting for?
July 22,
2005
Are you a risk-taker? Or are you risk-averse? Life is full
of opportunities to take risks: big risks, small risks, foolish risks,
calculated risks. The opportunity for risk-taking never ends! The question is,
are you prepared to take risks in your own life to get what you truly want?
We all take SOME amount of risk in our lives, every day, just by doing
normal things. We get in our cars and drive on crowded highways, we cross busy
intersections on foot, we meet new people and start a conversation, we go to
work every day, we eat, we drink, we breathe. In everything big or small thing
we do, there is always a risk. Even in smiling at a stranger, there is a risk
of that person rejecting our smile. Risk is a part of living.
Some
people truly thrive on risk-taking in a very big way. They love the excitement
and challenge, they thrive on the adrenaline rush they get from the trill of
risk. These are the people we often see jumping off bridges attached to an
oversized elastic band, climbing snow-covered mountain peaks, shooting pictures
in war-torn countries, training for an around the world trek in a balloon or
sailboat. For these people, "risk" is high on their list of personal values,
and without some element of risk and adventure in their lives, these people
would probably not feel truly alive. Risk is how they choose to live their
lives -- look at the now infamous
Lance Armstrong,
currently in hot pursuit of his 7th Tour de France title!
It's
exciting to watch or read about people who take these kinds of risks - many of
their stories are truly inspiring because most of these risk takers put an
incredible amount of planning, preparation and energy into their endeavors (to
minimize the "riskiness" of the risk). I find that type of intense focus and
passion very admirable. But I'm not suggesting we all have to be risk-takers on
this level. In fact, you'll probably never find me taking these types of
extreme physical risks, because it's simply not who I am. For the rest of us,
myself included, risk assumes a more moderate place in our lives. We may take
different types of risks - quitting a career we hate, buying our first house,
finishing a high-school diploma via GED and enrolling in college in our 40's or
50's, assuming the leadership of a volunteer organization, even asking someone
you like to go on a date! Risk is what keeps us moving forward, and our
willingness to take risks in our lives is what helps us create a 4-Star
Life™. "Living Boldly" by definition, is about being willing to take some
chances in life, to go for what we want, despite the "risks".
However...what if you are someone who is really risk-averse, and your fear of
risk is an obstacle to success and life satisfaction? For you, the fear of
"what might happen" or "what might go wrong" is keeping you paralyzed and
stuck. Your motto in life is "play it safe and don't rock the boat". For people
who ARE this risk-averse, one of your strong core needs is probably for
security and safety. In your drive to create a secure and safe environment, you
may be playing it SO safe that you're digging yourself into a nice, secure hole
in the ground. You may be trying to control everything around you, and the more
you try to control things, the more out-of-control things often feel. Can you
relate to this?
But I've got a secret to share with you. People who
play it safe aren't as "safe" as they want to think. People who are afraid to
make waves, who are afraid of change, afraid of confrontation, afraid to ask
for what they want in life, end up feeling the most insecure! Did you ever stop
to consider that? When you are desperately trying to control your life and all
the things around you so that you feel "safe and secure", it ends up making you
feel MORE afraid, MORE insecure.
Is that the way you want to live YOUR
life? I say, "No!"
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the
judgement that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose
Redmoon
If there is something you truly want for your life, no
matter what that might be, then maybe it's time to start shifting away from
allowing your fears and insecurities to control your life. Perhaps it's time to
'feel the fear, and do it anyway' - to TAKE THE RISK.
My challenge this
month, for those of you who are risk averse, is for you to redefine what "safe
and secure" looks like to you. Then, if there is something in your life you are
LONGING for, but have been afraid to try, examine it and challenge your own
fears and assumptions about the risk involved.
Start by asking
yourself some key questions:
* How am I defining "safety and security"
right now?
* What is another way I could redefine that?
* In what ways
am I trying too hard to control this situation, to feed my need for
security?
* What is it about taking this risk or chance that scares me?
What's the real truth about why I'm scared to take this risk?
* If I took
this risk, what would be the BEST things that could happen to me?
* If I
took this risk, what would be the WORST things that could happen to me? How
realistic are my fears about the worst case scenario?
* If the worst did
happen, would I survive it? (HINT: The answer is usually YES - we're much
stronger than we give ourselves credit for!)
* If I do NOT take this risk,
will I be living with regret about it for a very long time, perhaps even the
rest of my life?
* Does my excitement about the BEST that could happen
outweigh my fears about the WORST that could happen?
* How might I take
this risk, but create a strategy so that I can prepare in advance to handle any
possible outcomes? In other words, you can't always control the outcome, but
you CAN prepare yourself with a plan for handling most of the possible
outcomes.
For permission to reprint this
article, please contact me.
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