Today I want to talk about risk taking.

First of all, I want to tell you that by nature and upbringing I am massively ANTI-risk taking. Until around 10 years ago I was positively risk-averse. I loved the safety blanket of my regular income and I told myself that ‘playing safe’ was the best option for me in life.

How could I possibly fail if I was never taking any risks? It seemed like the safest course for me in life. Especially that I’d already ‘over-achieved’ by being the first in our family to go to university and the first in our family to move away. I didn’t want to push my luck by doing anything else ‘crazy’. Who knows what might happen.

I told myself "Don’t push your luck".

One of the first times I ‘pushed my luck’ was when I first took a job working in media in Central London. I was young, probably about 22, and the buzz of the city was calling me. I loved the idea of the hustle, picking up a Starbucks on my way into town, the whistle of the tube and the bright lights of London town. I remember the moment I walked out of the agency on Oxford Street. I’d just spoken to my ‘new’ boss who massively excited and inspired me. I felt like I could conquer the world and that anything was possible. I loved that feeling.

The only problem was the crummy media salary and the crazy cost of commuting. I did the numbers and they looked tight. Suddenly those feelings and emotions I’d experienced leaving the office were blown away.

"I couldn’t afford it."

"I’d make less money."

"It would be a disaster."

"I’d fail."

"I’d embarrass myself and my family."

I found myself sabotaging any sort of hope and belief I had in myself. In a matter of just hours I felt completely different about my prospects because I'd let the fear of risk sabotage any ambition I'd previously had.

The truth is I could afford it. I hear this all the time but really if we want something badly enough most of us can and will find a way. Almost all the time this is an excuse we use because we are too FEARFUL of CHANGE.

Tony Robbins said “The desire to change or grow HAS to be bigger than the desire to stay the same.”

Such a powerful quote. Ask yourself now, today. “Is your desire to change BIGGER than your desire to stay as you are right now?” 

If it’s not then that’s fine. We all move at a different pace. BUT, if your desire to change is bigger, grab a piece of paper and write down all of the excuses you tell yourself. They might be things like:

I can’t afford it

Ask yourself the truth behind all of these excuses.

Moving past my fear and my reluctance to change, completed altered my life. Every day I do things that scare me. I still experience the physical emotion of fear but I’ve developed a way to acknowledge and move past it quickly. I have found a way to trust myself, to listen to my inner voice.