To Take Risks or Not To Take Risks

A few days ago I (Misty) was walking through a little grocery store and looking at all of the old people. I had a moment of wondering what I would think when I was their age and I looked back at my life. I wondered if I would have any regrets. Normally I don't believe regrets are a good thing because every choice I have made, good or bad, has usually taught me something, and helped make me who I am. But, I could conceive of being older and regretting one thing, and that one thing was: Not taking enough risks and letting my fear control my decisions.

So, what is a risk? I know there are many different ways people think of risks...like in the video surfing a big wave, or sky diving. I'm talking about different risks, like starting a new business or making a big move across country. Mostly I think of these as risks because it's not guaranteed that I will be improving my life if I do these things, and I could fail bigtime, and the thought of failing is a scary one.

So, next is working through the fear. Fear is a tough one for me and I have many ways of dealing with it, but my two main ones are ignore it and push through the scary thing, or step back and take a bigger picture look. I think the "healthier" approach is the step back and take a look at the bigger picture. You may wonder how I do that. Well, let's see if I can explain it.

Example: Bill and I are moving our business in the direction of Design.

What's the risk or the fear in the example? We could lose all of our money and die from starvation. We might suck at Design and everyone might hate us. What if no one wants to pay us money and then what if we have to get jobs working for other people? The fear goes on and on.

What do I do to stop it? I decide to stop the thoughts where they are, and then I look at the worst thing that could happen: We could slowly lose money and have to get regular 9-5 jobs. Then I think about the best that could happen: We could be wildly successful and achieve all of our dreams. Then I think of what will happen if we don't take the risk: Nothing...things will probably stay the same. We won't improve our chances for success, but we won't die an ugly death either. Once I know all three of those answers (Worst, Best, and Middle) then I take a look at my overall life and goals and decide whether or not the risk is working towards my goals. If it is then just knowing the answers to those questions is enough to help me move through the fear and get on with the Risk Taking.

If anyone is wondering about Bill's process...Well, it's simple. He's fierce. If he feels fear he crushes it, and then becomes more fierce. He's also very arrogant, so he thinks he is wonderful at everything. His process is much, much different from mine!