If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more. – Erica Jong
What does that mean?
Those who are too afraid to to do anything for fear of failure (or embarrassment or whatever else they fear), have lost not only the opportunity for failure, but any possibility of success, no matter how limited it might have been.
This is a fairly standard for fear or risk aversion. There is an attempt to limit the damage that could possibly be caused, everything that could possibly prove to be useful is prevented from happening as well.
Why is risk important?
Some would say that there is no such thing as a “sure thing.” I would tend to agree, if only from a mathematical point of view. Nothing is going to be 100% sure. I would argue that there are going to be things that come very close to 100% sure, so close as to be indistinguishable by mere mortals. A few posts back, I spoke of being sure how my then fiancée would answer “the question” before I asked it. However, being human, I might have misunderstood her signals and blown it massively. Ya never know until ya try!
In the “ask her to marry me” scenario, what happens if I didn’t take the risk? If I didn’t ask her? There is a chance, given today’s modern woman, that she would have asked me (or at least bludgeoned me over the head with clues until she knocked some sense into me). There was also the chance that the question would never have been asked, and we would have drifted apart, as people are wont to do. If I hadn’t risked the possibility of a ‘no’, I would likely never have had a chance for a ‘yes.’
If I never had cranked up the courage to start this blog, we never would have met, and we both would have had to find other ways to occupy our time. But I took a chance, put my writing, thinking and editing skills (such as they are) to the test. Does that help it make more sense?
Where can I apply this in my life?
If you have kids, you know how persistent they can be. “Daddy, can I have…” can be repeated easily five times in a minute, even though each was responded to clearly with a NO! They are willing to risk the rejection if they think there is even the tiniest chance of success.
As adults, it tends to be the reverse. We sit, waiting, afraid to move forward unless we are sure that there is only the tiniest chance of failure (or embarrassment or whatever it is we are trying to avoid). Isn’t that kind of sad? We could learn a useful lesson from little kids. They are willing to risk, repeatedly, in order for a chance of success.
Grab your paper & write down a couple of things you are frozen out on, things where you aren’t moving forward due to fear or uncertainty or whatever else it might be. Can any of the items be broken down into parts that can move forward and other parts that are stuck? If so, you have already made progress!
For me, I was frozen on my old car, not sure how to proceed with getting the title issue cleared up. In this case, the fear was the car would not be title-able and I would have to sell it for scrap. That possibility had me frozen on doing anything. Then I got my self straightened out and got the preliminary paperwork figured out. I still have to get it all notarized, but the path is now clear. I risked the car and all the work I did on it, to find out what could be done.
Now, I’m as risk adverse as anyone out there, perhaps more so. I help myself deal with this by being more certain of the result. Take a look at your list and try to find a pattern. For me, it was usually a fear of an unknown outcome, so I did research, asked questions, found people who could help (or at least point me in the correct direction). What will help you mitigate or reduce the risks you are afraid or reluctant to take? Take a little time to brainstorm and see what you can come up with for ideas.
Look though your ideas and see how each might apply to your list items. Not every idea will fit every situation, so having some options would be a good idea. Hopefully, you now have some ideas on how to move forward, at least a little, with some of your list items. Now all you need to do is to take action. Get busy, what are you waiting for? “nothing ventured, nothing gained”
From: Twitter, @Inspire_Us
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ericajong124695.html
