But to experience that freedom, you had to take a risk. Learning how to ride that bike meant you would have to experience some banged-up knees and elbows. At eight you looked that risk in the face, gulped, and took it anyway- skinned knees and all. In the bargain you acquired a new skill. That new ability brought you the freedom you had before only eyed from a distance.
Oh, to be eight again! While we probably cannot recapture the same sense of adventure we possessed as children, we can - and should - rethink our views on risk-taking.
When you think about it, every time you try something new or exert yourself in a way you aren't comfortable with, you take a risk. Forging into the unknown can be exciting, rewarding, disappointing, or something in between. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees. But if you reflect back on the risks you have taken in your life, you will likely conclude risk-taking pays off. Why? Because, at the very least, you acquired a new understanding or skill from the experience.
Write down three recent risks you took and the payoffs, if any, that resulted.
Were the payoffs worth the risk involved? Even if the result wasn't what you wanted in each case and you had the opportunity to do it again, would you?
If you answered "Yes" each time, great: You have a wonderful spirit of adventure. You understand it's not only results that matter, but also how you play the game and what you learn from it. If you answered "No" to any of the situations above, then this article was written just for you!
There are many dimensions to YOU. And only YOU can decide if a particular dimension of your life needs revitalizing through risk-taking. Perhaps you have deliberately structured your life to resemble a pleasant cocoon, and you may be happy with your world. But, in time, cocoons become stifling. When that happens, it's time to stretch the limits of that existence by risk-taking.
You may be overwhelmed right now and feel that tackling your career dimension is enough without having to also contend with family, money, kids and other concerns. Hey, I agree. But life doesn't always work that way. As the song goes: "The hip bone's connected to the thigh bone." So, too, are our personal and professional dimensions overlapping and interconnecting.
Even though we may wish otherwise, none of us are very successful at separating how we feel about ourselves from how we treat others. We are the sum of the dimensions, issues and relationships that make up our singular reality. What happens at work impacts our home relationships and vice-versa. To think otherwise is naive.
It is always easier to hide and hope someone else will resolve your employment situation. But why give someone else the excitement of that discovery? Once you accept the fact that risk-taking is what keeps you growing (and that it offers tangible rewards), you'll never hide from it again.
I often think of a man I met at my first reentry workshop. He had been laid off from his job three months earlier but hadn't told anyone - not his wife, not his friends, not his adult children. Eventually, of course, his wife found out, but he continued an elaborate charade for his neighbors. Each morning he left the house for a job that no longer existed. He put so much energy into hiding the truth there was none left for picking up the pieces and getting on with his life. He reminded me of a turtle that, having once been burned by the sunlight, refuses to come out of its shell ever again. The problem is, when you hide you also shut out the possibility of growth and the good things that can happen when you leave your comfort zone.
So go ahead. Right now. Write one thing you know you should do that will help you get a job. You know what it is: It's the thing that's been nagging at you, the thing you keep putting out of your mind, the thing that's risky for you. Okay, what is it?
Now look that risk in the face. What are the potential payoffs? What do you have to lose? Will it be worth it? Probably. So tomorrow, do it!
Rita Davenport, a time-management trainer, says something I'd like to share with you. She has this wonderful Southern drawl that you'll just have to imagine. What she says is, "Mind your mind." In other words, you have a choice: You can sabotage yourself and live like a turtle, or you can take control of your mind and empower yourself through risk-taking.
The choice you make - to take the risk or not - will affect the direction and outcome of your life. We don't have to be victims in life; fate doesn't beat us up just for the hell of it. We are who we choose to be. Don't give that power to someone else. It is your life. Live it.
