Risks sound like a monster.
No matter how hard you try, they scare you.
But can we turn them into child’s play?
Glad you asked! This post will help you remove the factor of fear from any risk.
Chances are you’ll think of risks like a walk in the park.
Let's put on our adventurous hats and dive in.
Five ways to ease into a risk
Fear setting
Try until I enjoy
Exposure therapy
Visualization
Mentors
Let’s break them down
1. Fear setting
Fear setting is a tool to help you overcome your fears.
Its job is to prepare you in advance.
Before taking a big risk, map the underlying fears that are stopping you.
For each fear, find the why and how.
Write why are you afraid of it.
Three ways to overcome it.
Here’s an example.
2. The ‘Try Until I Enjoy’ Rule
Commit to a small portion of your goal for the fun of it.
Tell yourself you will only do it until you enjoy it.
Tone the risk down to a tune of 5 - 10 percent.
This reduces friction and helps you overcome procrastination.
It puts you on the road.
For example, if you want to grow your network to 1000 people, commit to sending three emails a week until you enjoy it.
Turn risks into games by making joy a part of the process.
Use the thrill of “how far can I go?” to your advantage.
So don’t build a ladder. Build a stepping stone.
Then ask yourself: can I build another?
Don’t start a business. Validate your idea on WhatsApp.
Don’t aim for building a clothing brand.
Break it down to steps…
Buy samples
Visit a manufacturer
Sell to three people in network.
See if you find joy in the process.
I don’t believe in failure. It is not a failure if you enjoyed the process.
― Oprah Winfrey
3. Exposure therapy
It involves gradually exposing yourself your fear in a controlled setting.
For example, before skydiving I would expose myself to a smaller height such as the terrace of Burj Khalifa.
Taking the risk to become a speaker but afraid of public speaking?
Start by speaking in front of a small group of people.
Join a Toastmaster club in your area.
Gradually work your way up to larger audiences.
Therapists use exposure therapy to help people with trauma erasure.
If you have a fear of dogs, they will take you to meet friendly dogs.
Next week, they will ask you to pet a dog.
In a matter of months, you’d be ready to adopt a dog.
4. Outcome visualizations
Mountain climbers visualize their route for days before a climb.
They picture how will they cross the bottleneck, uncountable times.
Formula 1 drivers do the same.
Months before starting a race, they visualize taking the riskiest turns.
Their goal is memorize every turn on the track.
They try to feel the thrill in advance.
But we are no Formula 1 driver…
Let’s see how can we apply their trick to our life.
For any risk — Instead of thinking failure, picture what happens in case of success.
For example, if starting a new business.
Think about your journey from first 10 customers to 1000.
Visualize every part of it.
Use your imagination as leverage.
When you think of failure scenarios, you are working backwards.
You create thoughts that you don’t want to see in life.
Think of what will you do if you succeed.
Stop worrying about no one visiting your new website.
Visualize your servers being crashed due to a viral tweet. 😃
This helps you build confidence and reduce anxiety.
Another example, if you're afraid of asking for a raise…
Visualize yourself confidently making your case to your boss and receiving a positive response.
Do this exercise before approaching any fearful activity.
5. Find mentors online
Mentorship is learning on steroids.
Having a support system in place makes it easy to take risks.
You will have people who offer encouragement.
They will give the right advice, and help if things don't go as planned.
If you're quitting job to start a business, speak with people who did it.
Find similar businesses in your space.
Don’t think of them as competitor yet. But collaborator.
Speak with their owners online for advice and support.
Share your business idea, doubts, and hypothesis with them.
Let them in on the process and talk about your fears.
They will share their experience to encourage you.
Sometimes they’d connect you with right the people.
Other times, they might invest in your venture.
But find mentors who are like-minded. Be respectful of their time.
If need be, offer to pay a consultation fee in advance.
Don’t be afraid of investing in this, you’re renting a goldmine.
Their decades of learnings will save you from fooling around.
Mentors will help you build the confidence to take the risk.
To conclude…
Using the above five strategies you can adopt a lifestyle of risk taking.
It helps you get 1 % better every day.
Remember, risk taking is not tough.
It’s easy if you know how to approach it.
I have armed you with action steps to turn any risk into a game you’d love to play.
Over to you.