How do you convince yourself to take a chance on something risky?
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J0E (
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March 10th, 2010
Not like jumping the Grand Canyon in a motorcycle or anything. Life stuff, such as moving to a new city or deciding to go to a school far away. How do you talk yourself into taking the chance? I try to tell myself the pros and cons but I still have a hard time even when I can see the pros outweigh the cons. I know these aren’t easy decisions to make, but people do make them.
P.S. Both of those examples are just that…examples.
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focus on what you want and what it will take to accomplish it with great success.
if you’ve already decided that the pros outweigh the cons, then stop weighing and start focusing on what you want and what it will take to accomplish it with great success.
again, focus on what you want and what it will take to accomplish it with great success.
little bit of liquid courage never hurts.
Take a deep breath and think about the consequences, as well as the benefits. Then, make the decision that you think is right.
I think if you’re passionate enough about something, it becomes easy to decide.
For example, when I moved to a new city, it was for my career, and what I do for a living is one thing that I’m truly passionate about. I couldn’t have moved fast enough! But it was risky because it was a brand new city, new people, I was moving by myself, with no plans set in stone and only a couple grand in my bank account.
For some people, your passion makes the decisions for you.
I’ve never been big on pros and cons lists.
Sometimes life is about risks. Not about evaluating every single situation so you don’t get hurt. Go with your gut instinct. Trust yourself.
Think about how much happier you’d be and what an awesome opportunity it’d be for you. Also, what a shame it would be to pass up.
Good luck, bud.
“How do you convince yourself to take a chance on something risky?”
Then it would not be risky.
I try to imagine myself 5 or 10 years in the future, looking back on this decision and I consider which choice might leave me with the most regrets…
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Inertia can weigh you down too…
Just use that cost/benefit analysis and, when you can’t bring yourself to do it, throw a little luck in there: flip a coin, roll a 20-sided die, etc. On the other hand, if the problem is fear, then I would just start small and work your way up. Slowly, you’ll be able to deal w/that particular type of fear in a more positive manner. Also, never underestimate the power of a planned and systematic approach in dealing with this.
Repeat the words-“Life is too short” or “You only live once” until you do it.
Just think of living the rest of your life how it is now with out injecting a little chance into it…Just do it!!
In my own life, I have usually just focused on what I want to get out of a big change (going to college early, getting married, quitting a job I didn’t love, starting a business), and that has been enough to drive me onward. In those moments of self-doubt that inevitably come, though, I’ve found it helpful to think through the worst possible outcomes. Usually this helps put things in perspective. For example, the worst possible outcome of quitting my job with IBM on Wall Street and moving out to California with my husband to start a business together was that we would fail and have to start looking for jobs for other companies again. I was okay with that risk, once I thought about it, because I realized I’d rather have tried and failed than never tried at all. Usually, in my life, the possibility of failure has seemed more attractive to me than the prospect of never taking the chance to succeed big time.
If I had to convince myself it probably wouldn’t be worth it. I have done many risky things, but only because I was so enthusiastic about it, I easily discounted the risks.
Think that in the end, everyone ends up six feet under and that you have nothing to lose. Think that no matter what the outcome, there are people who have it waaaay worse right now.
Think that there is nothing you can’t overcome, and there is nothing to lose b/c in the end you are going to win!!!
After high school graduation, my son was going nowhere. he was hanging around two guys that were okay kids, but they were also going nowhere in life. i told my son that he needed to break the ties with these two and go make something of himself, in the outside world. he took my word very seriously. my son is very intelligent. he first enrolled in Belmont College in Nashville and later transferred to Vanderbilt University. he had an opportunity to then transfer to San Diego State University and asked for my advice. i told him that his moving would be a gamble and that he could only make this decision himself. he decided to move to California. he took the gamble and won. he graduated and opened several coffee companies in the northwest. General Foods and Starbuck bought him out. he then got into politics and was the Speaker of The House in Washington State for four years. he later was given a Presidential Appointment and was the west coast director of FEMA and Homeland Security. am i bragging? yes sir, i am. i do not care who knows it. my point being is this: gamble and take the chance. like i told my son, “you only live once and who knows, the grass may be greener on the other side.” i wish you good luck in your choices.john
You have to know yourself well enough to really listen. Make your decision and never look back.
I have no idea. I can do something like move across the country no problem, but to do something like ask a girl out, I have to summon up all of my courage and ignore all the anxiety… It’s weird. And probably backwards.
I trust my gut, and then I use my brains to think up all the reasons why that’s the right thing to do.
My grandfather used to say: “Continents are not discovered in the harbor.” That means you have to venture away from safety in order to do something even moderately magnificent.
Still, sometimes I do find myself worrying and fretting and holding back even when holding back is the wrong thing to do. (Sometimes cautious prudence is the right thing—I can’t deny that.) Then I think of the words of my old babysitter, who said, “I’m jumping in the water while somebody else is just sticking her toe in. I make a lot of mistakes, but I also get to live a lot and have a lot of experiences.” She said that to me when I was not only not jumping, I wasn’t even sticking my toe in. I was hanging on the sides speculating about what the water was going to feel like. She pushed me, and I jumped, and I’ve never been sorry—even though that time it was a mistake!
Man, mistakes lend more color and texture to your life than half of the right things you do. What in the world is so terrible about making a mistake? Some of the greatest things I ever did (and the memories I treasure most) were mistakes by anybody’s measure.
Never mind about courage. Just hold your nose and jump before you think about it. If it isn’t going to kill you, you’ll be fine.
Sometimes you have to just close your eyes and jump right in.
(I don’t personally believe this, but it’s still nice to hear) – Tell yourself you only live once! No regrets. & You can always move back to the town you started in & start over. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
Really though, just do it. Don’t think about it – just do it. It’s an adventure!
Try not to over-think; that’s the biggest mistake people male in such situations. Try thinking clearly about what you you hope to achieve from the move and if it seems worth it, go for it.
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