Photo by Kamil Pietrzak on UnsplashEveryday we are faced with choices and demands that require deciding on one approach over the other. Dealing with unknown outcomes is uncomfortable for most humans, yet it’s a reality of life. Whether facing your next career move, college choice, migrating from one country to another, getting hitched or exploring your aspirations in entrepreneurship—life’s choices are inherently a scary risky business, and more so if you want to live a meaningful life.
According to risks management experts at Deloitte, there are two types of risks that confronts us all. The unrewarded risks and the rewarded risks.
“Unrewarded risks are necessary dos that you must engage in to comply with regularities. Rewarded risks are decisions based activities that you choose to engage in to be more competitive.
Similarly, just as there are two types of risks, there are two types of individuals when it comes to risks taking. The risks adverse individual who avoids taking risks at all cost, and the risks taker who engages in calculated risks.
The art of living constitutes risks taking since none of us can tell what shall fall on us every moment we are living. So, rather than play safe, why not choose to discover the unknown? You may very well end up realizing a new frontier altogether or at the very least become the best and the highest version of yourself.
If this sounds interesting to you, here are a few points that may guide you to your north star as you master the courage to live the life you love.
Confront Your Fears
We all have fears, founded and unfounded. Fear: False Evidence Appearing Real is a feeling—a sense that seem to hick-jack your brain in that you cannot think or act rationally. In other cases, fear acts as an alert signal within our nervous system by which we homo sapiens know by gut feelings that it’s time to act: fight back, run or hide from an impending doom. Heck, fear is a great emotion if you diagnose it properly and timely.
Reframe how you view ‘Risks’
To some, especially those often driven by a rush of dopamine (a thrill seeking sensation), fear is as a feedback mechanism by which they infer the message to proceed on while others recoil. These people see challenges as an invitation to indulge in endeavors ubiquitous of learning opportunities. They are your average contrarians, and often believe that the real deal is often lurking in the fear factor. Thy reason that whatever they want is on the other side of fear, and hence their ‘try and see approach, while managing the risk as they go.
Get out of your comfort zone
Risk taking is an acquired behavior. The unborn child emerges from their mother’s womb scared of the unknown environment. However, after a few hours the child learns to adapt quickly to the new and unfamiliar territory. This process continues with us till we depart at death. So, we owe it to ourselves to get over whatever fears that stops us. Adopting what Stanford Professor Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset can yield great gains as well as mechanism by which we are grounded and build resilience in the long haul. As a matter of fact, this is how to build your self-confidence. You just got to try new things… there is no other way around it.
Do you want to live the life you love?
If you want to live the life you love, then go for it, you owe it to yourself. Endeavor to create and realize your dreams no matter what. Bear in mind however that it takes time to build a meaningful life—it’s a marathon not a splint. Too, you ought to know that no one can do this for you much less make the choice for you. Thus, if you take fewer and small risks, you’ll receive fewer and little gains. Likewise, if you take huge risks you’ll receive huge and greater gains. Brace yourself therefore, especially if you desire to change the world, or impact others? You cannot do so by playing it safe, or continuing on being like the other ‘sheep’ in the flock!’ You’ve got to launch on your own—lead self, lead your work and lead your life of impact.
In essence, risk taking is reward living, because you are only rewarded if you try. By a win if things go your way, or by take away lessons if thing go south. Either way, you win just by sheer fact you took the risk of trying. Why not live the life you love therefore? You only got this one life anyways! Moreover, this is the only road to building more confidence, impact and fulfillment.
If you are interested in risk taking and do not know where to start, send me a note, I am confident I can share a thing or two about risk taking to live the life you love.
Carolyne helps professionals gain CLARITY around building a meaningful career. A speaker, author of Being Grounded: 21 Days To Come Alive and Love Your Life, and a contributing writer for various publications. To schedule your 45 minutes complimentary session with her, you can write her at carolyne@vpfstrategies.com
