TAKING RISKS IS ABOUT LIVING
In December of 2017, I did what some people told me was a risk, which indeed it was, but I did it anyway. It was one of my bucket list items: Skydiving.
Yes, it does sound very risky to jump from 10,000 feet in the air with the hopes of landing safely on solid ground. But isn’t living risky?
Each day I leave my house to get on our busy South Florida roads, I am taking a risk. To eat at restaurants is risky. To walk into a mall is risky. We are always taking a risk in life. We do so on a daily basis.
But we don’t stop to think of many of them that we do. We just accept it as a part of life and never question anyone who steps out their door to go anywhere each day. Even getting out of bed can be risky.
You might say yes, that’s true, but it is not as dangerous as jumping out of a plane.
One of my friends who I had told that I was going to do my skydiving jump said these words to me: “Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly sound plane? I don’t get it!” In other words, why take that risk?
BENEFITS TO TAKING RISKS
I’m glad I didn’t listen to the voices of those who looked at me as if I was crazy. Today, I can tell them about the view I had along with the awesome experience that it was. They’ll never be able to grasp what it was like, no matter how much I explain it.
I like what Steve Goodier had to say about risk. He said:
- To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
- To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
- To place your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is to risk rejection.
- To love is to risk not being loved in return.
- To live is to risk dying.
But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. Those who risk nothing, do nothing, have nothing, and become nothing. They may avoid present suffering and sorrow, but they will not learn, feel, change, grow, love, or live.
REGRETS OF NOT TAKING RISKS
One of my regrets, as I look back over my life, is that I played it too safe for a lot of years. Even in raising our children, I did my best to not expose them to anything I considered too “risky.”
I wish I had taken more risks and conditioned my children to take more risks.
This “playing it safe” approach, kept me back from my own risk-conditioning in life. I am much better now than I was in the past. But taking risks isn’t a natural thing for me as it seems to be for some people. It takes me a bit longer to make a decision that involves risks but the good part is that I will give myself permission to take risks more now than ever before. I have to be intentional.
Again, when I went Skydiving, I wasn’t naive to the fact that there were some risks involved. But I had to shift my thinking to the experience I would not have had, had I not do the jump.
TECHNIQUE TO HELP WITH RISK TAKING
I began to think of the stories I could tell both the real ones and the exaggerated ones. The latter made me smile and shift my thoughts to how better I could tell it than the one about the big fish that got away.
Even now as you read this you are probably smiling as I am, writing it.
That is one of the techniques that you can use to shift your thinking from “pain” to “pleasure.” When you’re in “pleasure” mode, everything changes.
So, what is it that you need to take a risk doing?
Why haven’t you done so? What or who is holding you back?
Identify what or who it is, and work towards shifting your focus from it or them, and put it on your outcome. Make the outcome so pleasurable, you can’t wait to get going.
I know this might be tricky for you but that’s why I’m here. Having been where you are and having found a way to move from inaction to action, I want to help you get going.
If this is something you have a strong desire to do and ONLY if you have a strong desire, then CONNECT WITH ME.
Remember, I’m here to help you Optimize for success! So reach out today!
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