Dear ,

The Power if Risk is an important element in your powerful purpose because without it, you would not access your deepest, most important part of your self and reach your full potential. Taking a risk is about deciding what you want with certainty and moving forward, often risking looking like a fool or just plain failing. It's scary, but without taking a healthy risk (don't be foolish or harmful to others)-you might never know your own inner strength and true value, as well as accomplish much in the world.

 

Think about a time you have overcome adversity or a specific challenge and felt better about yourself because of it. So I say, bring on the challenges and opportunities to grow, learn, evolve and transform. Risk changing­- for the sake of growing into your truer self. Risk getting hurt- for the sake of loving another. Risk failing-for the sake of succeeding beyond your wildest dreams. Be uncomfortable or unpopular. Stop playing it safe and start making decisions like your life depends on it. Be afraid, do it anyway and create a fearless fierceness for yourself.

 

As a client of mine said earlier this week, "You have to take charge, be open and energetic. You have to take risks and know how much you are willing to put yourself out there. Assess the risk, know where to draw your lines, know what you are doing is safe, and not reckless, and then get out there and just do it." She is a wise woman.

 

So, put your own stake in the ground for what is right and true for you. Ask yourself, what's the worst thing that can happen? Assess and then get going. Below are some "words of wisdom" to inspire risk taking:

 

• "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." - unknown

• "I gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which I must stop and look fear in the face...I say to myself, I've lived through this and can take the next thing that comes along. We must do the things we think we cannot do." -Eleanor Roosevelt

• "It is not a question of whether you "have what it takes," but of whether you take the gifts you have -- they are plenteous -- and share them with all the world."  - Neale Donald Walsch, Tomorrow's God
  

• "Excellence is...

                      the result of caring more than others think is wise;

                      risking more than others think is safe;

                      dreaming more than others think is practical; and

                      expecting more than others think is possible."                                                                                  -  unknown

Are you ready to take a risk in your life to accomplish the things you want? To have more fulfillment, more success, more love, more balance, more joy, more experiences, more of anything other than what you currently have. Many of my clients have done just that... Here are some examples of risky things they are doing to more fully show up in the world:

• Leaving a corporate job to become an entrepreneur
• Reviving a love of creating art and opening an art studio
• Getting a motorcycle license and she is now riding her bike around town
• Writing a book in a few short months and sending it out for review to major publishers (I know... it's a vulnerable process)
• Sky diving
• Doing public speaking for the first time
• Opening their heart for a new love's potential long-term relationship
• Setting new boundaries with friends and family so that "me" time is prioritized
• Putting their profile on match.com to re-energize their dating life
• Taking on a large leadership role of a non-profit while maintaining the same life responsibilities
• Accepting a job promotion while wondering if they can really do it
• Starting a new business based on supporting the non-profit world
• Ballroom Dancing
• Going back to school 15 years later to complete a college degree
• Buying a new home
• Leaving an unhealthy marriage and moving across the country
• Setting HUGE sales goals and taking more proactive, strategic risks
• Hiring a Life Coach

My clients are amazing. I am awed by the challenges they take on everyday to claim what they want, to find their voice and use it, to live their values, to go after their dreams and to make positive life changes, big and small, fast and slow. Maybe you feel like you have failed, and if so, I say YAY for the opportunity to learn and create from where you currently are. (to learn more, see my Underwired article on the Gift of Failure below.)

 

If you are in doubt of your ability, your vision or your goals, then perhaps you need a partner to go through the journey with you. Get the help of a friend, a counselor or even, consider Life Coaching as a way to overcome fears (and we ALL have them) and to get moving in the direction of your dreams. It is a powerful, confidential process that can give you the courage to take risks to have your best life possible.  If interested, contact me at jennifer@excavive.com