Your risk factor is the one trait that will define you

A high risk factor is your best internal program for accomplishment

When I was growing up, I liked adventure and travel as much as any other kid did.

There was the initial reaction of, “you are taking me away from my friends?!” to the eventual one of, “I wonder what my life would be like if this was home?”.

I spent loads of time wondering what it was like to live in each of the new places we visited. Being young and easily influenced by my peers, I felt like every single place would shape my whole life.

Ha! Little did I know that my environment wasn’t going to influence who I am at the core. Nor matter in the grand scale. The me who I carry around with me, wherever that may be, is guided by an internal mechanism that can make good choices, adjust quickly and takes on new adventures.

Looking back, the factor that has had the most impact on how easily I can navigate change and shaped my daily happiness is risk. The risk factor each of my adventures involved have shaped my identity.

Taking the edge off instead of taking a risk

Many people manage their fear through avoidance and stay victim to their circumstances. They may be content enough in their current situation but aren’t sure because they fill up their time with distraction or trying new things – only making enough effort to take the edge off. But not enough to feel like they are getting close to the big dreams they have.

Or don’t take enough risks to find out what their big dreams are. Maybe taking one big leap and then settling in that comfort zone for years and years. They have a low risk factor. It may look high but it’s not. They are within their comfort zone.

This is how we get stuck and can’t figure out what to do next. Or how to really go for it.

The recipe for feeling alive and full (& achieving greatness)

Getting out of the cycle of comfort and malaise requires choosing something big to accomplish. Downright scary. It’s not the easy next move that creates a shift in well-beingness.

It creates a new reality for what we can take on. Stretches our muscles capacity. My client, Matt Walker Adventure, perfectly articulates this in his Five Elements of Adventure.

The second factor is the uncertainty of how it will all turn out. By choosing projects or goals that you can’t honestly say you’ll pull off 100%, you step into a territory of striving and resilience.

THIS is the kind of stuff that leaders are made of. Habits and approaches that differentiates those who feel alive from those who feel unsure and avoid effort (and inadvertently miss out on a lot!).

It means that you can’t just start a new business, create a website or write a book at hang out. You need to book that speaking gig where you talk to people about it, apply to those podcasts, invite many people to join you. Share consistently. Add a higher risk factor to each of these projects.

If you aren’t often nervous, they you aren’t choosing something where there is a enough at stake to make the effort and growth worth it. Up your risk factor and enjoy your life on a whole new level.

How are you going to up your risk-factor in your next project? Let me be your guide to act boldly and responsibly. Hop over to the page to get on a call.