Do I Dare?
By Stacey Mayo How many times have you thought about doing something but were so concerned that it might not go right, that you just didn't do it? The potential downside seemed too risky or scary. It was easier to play it safe. Needless to say, playing it safe will not bring us our dreams. There are always potential risks to trying something new as well as potential rewards. Are you willing to risk the possibility that it might not go right for the potential rewards to be gained? What fears come up when you think about taking a particular risk? Fear of looking foolish? Making a mistake? Losing money? And what if any of those things did happen? Would it be irreparable. Sometimes, our fear of failure or looking foolish is so strong, we think we will die. But we don't. It is also important to look at the potential rewards. What could happen if you take a risk and it works out? What do you really want but getting it means being a bit uncomfortable? A date with someone you admire? A new opportunity or career? More time to do the things you love to do? Would it be worth the risk if you could have what you really wanted? Here is a recent example from my life. For the past two years, we have sent out this newsletter and handled the administrative aspects of it ourselves. We have considered changing to an automated system but had concerns about some of the bugs seen in other systems -- the errors of which have caused them to lose many subscribers (or so it seemed). Those concerns had kept me from doing anything. Lately, the administrative work has felt overwhelming and I decided to find a system that we could feel good about. We found one we liked and from a financial viewpoint, it made sense to also use them to host my website as well. I also had concerns about this. What happens when a site is transferred.? Will it be down for a couple of days or weeks? What if it gets lost in cyberspace?. In my research, I found a company that had a good reputation. They spent lots of time upfront telling me how it works and I was re-assured - actually confident that I was making a good choice and all would go smoothly. But, alas, my worst fear happened. My website got lost in cyberspace. I won't bore you with the details of how that happened. But we are all human and human error did occur. It took us 4 hours on the phone that Friday to find and reconstruct the most recent version of the website. By the end I was exhausted and upset that I had to spend my time in that way. But then the hard part was over and on Monday I got a call from someone who had seen my website and wanted to discuss coaching with me. It was handled. My worst fear had happened, Yet it only took 4 hours of my time to correct it. While I would rather that had not happened. In the bigger picture of things, it was only a blip on the screen of life. If that is the worst that could happen, it was not so bad. What was the positive from this? We now have an automated newsletter system and administrative takes should be cut by about 70%. This is the first one so we will see how it goes. I also got three months of webhosting for free. But the biggest thing I got was more courage in taking risks. The worst I imagined had happened and while I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone, I survived and came out stronger on the other end. What is a risk you have been reluctant to take? What is the worse that could happen? What are you afraid of, i.e., looking foolish? Making a mistake? Wasting money? Wasting time? Are the potential rewards worth it? This week be willing to take a risk. Let the winning be in taking the risk, regardless of the outcome. To subscribe to this list, please send an e-mail message to:
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