How to take risks and do it WELL?

1. Calculate your risks. Taking risks is like skydiving. You need to have courage to take that first step into the vast chasm of blue. But before you do that and enjoy the liberating and exciting feeling of flying, you must check your equipment and make sure that your parachute will open. Be smart about taking risks. Weigh carefully your chances of success and what you put at stake. If something goes wrong, it should not ruin you emotionally, financially or physically.

2. Have a plan B. What are the potential risks that you can encounter? What can you do if something does not go according to your initial plan? Taking risks means dealing with the possibility of failure. Having a plan B can noticeably improve your chances of success and shift the odds in your favor.

3. Look at what it is costing you NOT to take this risk. Almost always personal growth and achievements come with risk no matter whether you fail or succeed. Unconsciously you may try to resist change and try to protect your sense of security. But if in the long run it costs you your health, your relationships, your promotion, your happiness and fulfillment then you are probably paying too much for it.

4. Analyze what taking this risk is worth to you. Sometimes even if you take a risk and fail, you end up winning anyway, because you learn valuable lessons in the process and stretch your abilities. There is a certain satisfaction in knowing that you dared and went for your dream against all odds, whether you succeeded or not. Regret of never trying is usually much harder to live with than failure.

5. Let go of excuses. When we are facing a challenge and the possibility of failing, our mind ‘rationalizes’ our fears by coming up with hundreds of “logical” reasons not to do it. Take time to reflect which reasons are real and which ones are nicely disguised excuses.

And finally… Start taking risks today! The more you think about whether you should take a risk or not, the less likely you will not do it. Courage is not something we are born with. It is a quality that we develop with practice. Challenge your fears by starting to take small risks now! Go to a restaurant where you have not been before and order something that sounds really strange, buy a different style of clothing, try a new sport or do something you ordinary would not do!

It’s fun and exciting! You’ll see!