Lower Your Risk for Risk Taking

Many of my clients could have saved themselves a lot of anguish if they had come to me sooner.  In fact, one of the most common phrases I hear after the first session is “Wow, I really should have done this a long time ago."  But, I know why it takes whatever it takes.

For instance, what holds you back from exploring new ideas, approaching your boss for a raise, changing careers, or transitioning into your own business? Fear of risking. Most of us allow the fear to completely overshadow the possibility of far greater happiness and success.

But, if .you do not risk, your life (and career and relationships) become stagnant. Are you bored? Discontent?  It’s a clear signal you aren’t risking enough.

Here are simple tips to lower your risk of risk taking:

1) Don’t take stupid risks.   This is a risk where the possibility of a positive outcome is limited.  Think lottery. Gambling. People who are terrified to invest a few hundred dollars to invest in personal career development will, however, spend $10-50 a week on the lottery where there is a million in one chance of a return on investment.  That adds up to $500-$2500 a year….money you could have spent on risks that would have produced a far more positive result.

2) Risk on positive the outcomes.  Always look at what you’re going to WIN, not LOSE, and stay focused on that.  Focusing on the fear only produces more fear.  For instance, asking for a raise or a different opportunity at work has within it great possible outcomes.  The worst thing that can happen is that they say no, but you may have planted a seed for the future, nonetheless. The positive far outweighs the negative consequences. Other examples are taking a new class where the worst case is you won’t learn anything (highly unlikely) or going to a networking event to meet new people (and you don’t meet anyone) ….but remember, you may meet that great contact that can offer a job or bring you business!

3) Risk in small steps. You don’t start running with a marathon. Risking is a practice.  You want to work about 1-2 inches outside of your comfort zone.  Staying in your comfort zone will keep you – and your life – boring and stuck. If you take too big a risk at one time, you can shut yourself off emotionally. Maybe the first steps to the marathon is running 30 minutes 3 or 4 times a week and then building up to a 5K which eventually leads you to a marathon.  Find others who want to run, and slowly you will be ready .to take the bigger risk.

4) Risk consistently and often.  Be accountable. Risk is a muscle. The more you take small risks and move them to bigger risks, the stronger your muscle and ability to take risks in all areas of your life.  In our mastermind teams, we take the 2 week approach – a minor upgrade and commitment every 2 weeks, and then you become accountable for that action in the next meeting to your support team. People have moved mountains, built businesses, tripled their income, and dealt with devastating life events through this process.

Find a place to be accountable regularly and you will discover you have significantly expanded your ability to risk – and it wasn’t even scary!

Overcoming Fear of Success

Are you drowning in invitations to dramatically increase your income, create a bigger plan, or achieve astronomical goals? I recently received an e-mail asking if I was “tired of taking small steps instead of making quantum leaps.” They said that if I was ready to take a quantum leap, I could join a 3 day program, and leap away with them.

I'm not ready, thank you, and the truth is most of us are terrified at a quantum leap. Did you know that the brain is designed so that any new challenge or opportunity – no matter how beneficial – will trigger some degree of fear? The bigger the challenge, the greater the fear. The idea that we can avoid fear in the face of success is pretty much impossible.

Once the fear response gets triggered, we unconsciously make excuses to resist any change and stay where we are. We say things to ourselves like “I’m too busy to deal with changing any behaviors right now,” “I don’t have the time to learn how to do new things,” and my personal favorite, “I don’t have the money to invest in myself today – I’ll do I it later when I have more money.” (Of course, that probably won’t happen until you change some things.)

This is why we find ourselves with big ideas yet resistant to implementation.

When our fear is triggered, we may experience one or more of these success-blocking behaviors: (1) lack of focus, (2) difficulty implementing ideas (3) perfectionism and (4) procrastination.

So, when you find yourself experiencing some of this beahavior, what can you do about it? I can’t tell you how to not be fearful – if you’re on the path to success, you’re going to experience it. (Give up, you’re nervous.). But I can tell you what really works…

Take extremely small steps. Consistently. Over an extended period of time.

It’s magic.

According to one of my former teachers, Dr. Robert Maurer, author of One Small Step Can Change Your Life, and psychological researcher at UCLA, “small, easily achievable goals – such as picking up just one paper clip on a chronically messy desk – let you tiptoe past the amygdala (fear center), keeping it asleep without setting off alarm bells.” He explains that while you take these small steps you are actually reprogramming the new nerve pathways for your desired change so that it happens almost without you realizing it.

Our Fired Up Mastermind Network™ system is built around this very principle so we get to see it in action all the time. We see successes created around amazingly small steps as a matter of course.

Recently Donna in our “Nooner” Mastermind team, has been transitioning from graphic arts into a voice-over career, but she also wanted to leverage her creativity to open another stream of income. “I can’t even imagine what that would be. I used to sew, but I have no idea what I could do with that. It’s overwhelming.”

The step was simple. Visit a fabric store. Let go of what she needed to do with it. Indeed, she went with her sister on an outing and loved it. “There’s something that happened inside of me at that store. I got in touch with my love of sewing. Now the ideas and opportunities are just coming effortlessly. I am so excited.”

Donna’s new ideas that may be up and running far more quickly than she would have ever imagined, but her new ventures did not come from the search for a quantum leap, but rather a focus on the smallest possible step.

If you want real magic to live a life you truly love, start small…….and keep it that way for a long time.

(If you're ready to go really small, try our Fired Up Mastermind Network™.)