The thought of taking risks brings up negative emotions for many/most of us.
Deep down, we all fear failure, rejection, change, and uncertainty.
When we think about taking a risk, our innate fight/flight response kicks in and we often get stopped dead in our tracks.
BUT, unless we are willing to take risks in life (sometimes big ones), we will end up living in our comfort zones without ever really knowing what we are truly capable of or what is on the other side of the fear.
So, what if we could flip the switch for ourselves and see risk taking as our access to the funnest, juiciest, most exciting things that life has to offer? What if we could wake up every day and get excited about the risks that we get to take that day, knowing that the uncertainty holds the deepest growth, transformation and happiness that life has to offer us?
I’m not talking about risks that involve putting your life at stake by running out into traffic, or driving while intoxicated.
The risks I’m referring to here are the ones that you have a knowing or a voice in your head giving you some sort of nudge to take, but they seem unreasonable or scary. And, at the same time, when you think about what may be on the other side of taking the risk, you feel excitement butterflies.
It might be that your inner guidance is telling you to leave your job, or to move across the country (or across the world), or to end a relationship. Maybe you feel moved to ask a guy out but you’re too scared or worried about what he (or others) might think. Maybe you feel moved to chop off all your hair but you’re not sure if your family and friends will like it that way.
Whatever it is for you, whether it’s a big risk or a small one, when you are feeling a calling it is because your higher self knows that this is the next step for you and the Universe is ready to support you when you take the leap.
Benefits of Taking Risks
Here are just a few of the benefits that come with taking risks in life.
1) Taking Risks Builds Confidence and Creates Opportunities
By taking risks, you give yourself permission to try things out, to learn, to fail, to grow and to explore. You give yourself permission to live your life to the fullest.
Every time you take a risk you get to move beyond your perceived limits and go beyond what you believed was possible for yourself and your life. You get to move toward the things you really want in your life. Often times these are things that you want on a subconscious level and your conscious mind can’t quite figure out why, they are things that may not even make sense at the time. When we follow our inner guidance in this way, that’s where the biggest rewards come from.
Every time you take a risk, you automatically build up your self-confidence, you grow as a person and open up a whole new world for yourself.
2) Taking risks helps you to get clear about what you want out of life.
When you are put in a situation where you are feeling called to throw your hat over the fence and take a big leap in some area of your life, it helps you to become more consciously aware of what is important to you and what you want and don’t want in your life.
Taking risks allows you to create your own destiny, and when we are called to do something big it helps us to see what that destiny is. Becoming a master of your own destiny never happens in your comfort zone, it only comes when we are willing to play big and follow the calling to take risks when they present themselves.
And the opportunities that present themselves are simply the guidance we are being given from our subconscious minds to take a leap in a new direction.
3) Taking risks builds self-trust.
The more we take risks that feel in alignment with our inner guidance (even if they don’t make sense or feel crazy), the more we will see proof that the Universe really does have our back when we listen to this guidance.
And the more we see proof that the Universe has our back, the more we start to trust our internal guidance and the more we start to trust ourselves to make bold moves in our lives.
4) Taking risks makes life exciting and full.
If we stay in our comfort zones afraid to ever take a big leap in a new direction, we may live a safe and cozy life, but it certainly won’t be very exciting. It would be monotonous.
The sweaty palms and racing heart we experience when there’s something at stake is the adrenalin rush that comes from living fully. It’s good for you to experience this!
When you feel this you can ask yourself,
“What’s the worst that can happen?”
“What regrets will I have if I miss this opportunity?”
“What will my life look like if I don’t take the leap? Do I want to continue to live this way?”
Life is short and it’s meant to be played full out.
Taking risks is just part of living a full and juicy life, and not always knowing what the outcome will be makes life exciting.
So get out out of your comfort zone and seize the day!
And Then She Shines…
I also want to mention that inside of the membership community for our new company, And Then She Shines, we take a deep dive into a different coaching topic each month. We did a whole month on ‘Leap and the Net will Appear’ and we had lots of juicy conversations like this one. All of the archives are there for life for our members, and we continue to work on different topics each month. It’s totally awesome, the best community of women on the plant. If you’d like to learn more about joining that membership community, you can learn more here.
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Comments
Love this podcast Amy! Such great examples of following your heart, taking risks and living full on. You have such a relaxed, confident and inspiring way of getting the message across. Could listen for hours!
Aw, thanks so much, Linda. Full on is the only way to live, in my opinion. 🙂 Thanks so much for listening and for your feedback.
This is authentic and interesting Amy. You really believed in your heart that calling to go to New Zealand and moved on in spite of all the challenges. Thank you for sharing that.
I’m more and more inspired to move out of my comfort zone. I appreciate the teachers I have attracted into my life now that motivate me to do so. You are one of them.
Blessings