I had an interesting session this week with one of my 1-2-1 Business Coaching Clients…
We were discussing a new venture he is taking on, as he was telling me his plans – I noticed the colour fading in his cheeks and the energy dropping in his voice. He had mentioned the word RISK!
I probed deeper into the emotions he associated with the word.
The dictionary says that to risk is “to expose oneself to the chance of loss. A person may avoid suffering and sorrow if they don’t risk, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.
The greatest mistake that people make in life is to avoid risk. Unfortunately this person will go through life doing nothing and having nothing, never experiencing true freedom. Only the person who risks is truly free.
In business I have (experienced myself) and met many people who are paralysed by fear. The lists of the excuses of why something cannot be changed or attained are endless. High on most people’s list would be the;
- Fear of loss
- Fear of failure
- Fear of perceived humiliation if the loss were to occur
- Fear of success (yes this one to!)
- Fear of change
- Fear of ’I can’t cope’ (As Susan Jeffers says in her book, ‘Feel The Fear and Do it Anyway’ this fear underpins all the above)
Why is it people automatically gravitate towards this emotion? Why wouldn’t we first do and see then, if we did fail at the task – learn from the experience and move on. So much of our conditioning is based on our past fears that have been programmed into us since we were children.
It is not unusual to hear a parent say to a child “Be careful you might fall” when taking their first steps, and constantly reaffirming this throughout their life as they grow, with common uses of the words don’t, or can’t. Unfortunately these four letter words that parents use around their children frequently do more damage than a lot of other frowned-upon four letter words put together.
Can’t is a word that paralyses any constructive process in business or personal situations. It switches the mind into negative frequency. It is the word that will open a flow of never ending logical reasons as to why you are not able to do something you sincerely want to accomplish.
The alternative to this conundrum would be the polar opposite – I CAN. This word is far more important that IQ. You do not have to be very smart to succeed … but you have to be willing.
Reaching a goal that you set in your business is not success; success is moving toward the goal. Taking risks is essential when you want to reach a goal and the purpose of goals is growth. When you challenge yourself, you bring more of yourself to the surface and this will make you a success.
If you have a dream in life for your business and your family but you cannot see a way forward, this is because you have not allowed yourself to move beyond your own comfort zone and take the necessary risks to make this happen. In order to grow you must accept risk taking as a very real part of the apprenticeship of life that you must serve.
The sad thing is that most people simply do not realise the importance of failure when it comes to success. All successful people are successful because they have failed in many, many endeavours but never do they let the fear of failure constrain them from doing time and time again, until they achieve. In the later years of his life, Winston Churchill was asked to address a school class on what he believed to be the secret to his great success in life. His response was,
I can summarize the lessons of my life in seven words – never give in; never, never give in.”
Decide this very moment there will be no more playing it safe … no more “saving it for a rainy day” type of thinking. When people get caught in this kind of cycle this is generally what they have to look forward to – a rainy day.
If your goal is to accumulate great wealth for philanthropic reasons, or simply to live the life of your dreams whatever that may be, history records that the first few steps have a high degree of risk. You must turn your back on safety and security. To make it big, you must take big risks. You will have to put yourself in a highly venerable position. Never limit yourself, test the strength of your abilities. Too many people go through their entire lives playing their cards close to their chest. They never step out and bet on the surest thing in the world …Themselves.
Nobody knows your gifts better than you. Do not be conditioned by what your parents, teachers, bosses and friends have said about you in the past as you seek out your purpose. Understand the negative images that have been crowding your mind since birth.
The masses out there are obsessed with conformity rather than creativity. You should not listen to them. You must recognise the unique gift of you. You are everything that you want to become, the performance that you do every day on your own centre stage….When it really comes down to it, your only job in life is to be the best you, that you can be. That is your life purpose.
You will never succeed greatly unless you are willing to risk greatly. FEAR simply means:
False
Expectations
Appearing
Real
When Should you Take a Risk?
So the next time fear holds you back from making a positive change in your business or in yourself be aware of your own self talk and look at any opportunity objectively – if it feels like 80% the right thing to do, that’s when you should take a risk.
And my client? He left the session with a realisation – to him RISK had the meaning of fear and failure and he can now work on changing this limiting belief to a posititive and more empowering belief such as Risk = Reward or Success.
Here’s a short 3 minute video to watch on the new F word
If your business is not in the posistion you feel it has the potential to be in – you will benefit from a Complimentary Business Breakthrough Coaching Sesssion more…
Have a great week
David
Image: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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