Dare to Take a Risk!

By Kathleen Boucher

Fortune sides with him who dares-Virgil

 

What are you afraid of? What steals your peace of mind; what keeps you up at night or gives you butterflies in the pit of your stomach? High up on the list is public speaking for most people. Statistically, it is along-side being afraid of dying! What are you scared to go after?

The question is, “How do you overcome your fear of failing and gradually improve?”

The answer is, “Take action and embrace the fact that you aren’t going to be an expert from the get-go!”

Imagine giving yourself permission to do things imperfectly, with colossal blunders and grandiose mistakes.  Keep a journal of all the crazy unexpected things that go wrong. Laugh at the memories. They make great stories. Cherish them! They are scattered among your triumphs. Isn’t that a fun perspective?!

I have a favorite motivational speaker. He can pretty well make a video in one shoot. Why? He has hours of practice behind him. In fact, he chuckles about when he started speaking on stage and making videos in his studio. He says, “I was awful!” The trick is that he persevered and stuck with it. He had a burning desire to make his business work.

Let’s step sideways. Instead of aiming for perfection I ask that you give yourself  freedom to make mistakes. Seek them out. For this scenario suppose you are giving a speech. What could go wrong?

  1. Your mike could break.
  2. You could stand before the audience and forget everything you are going to say.
  3. Your computer could shut down with your presentation on it (this happened to a colleague).
  4. Only one person shows up for your presentation.
  5. All the lights go out in the auditorium (this happened to another colleague. He now carries a pocket flashlight. I am not kidding!).

Make your own list of things that could go wrong in whatever situation that scares you.  Brain storm solutions! For example: If your computer shuts off you’ll have an extra memory stick etc.

Expect mistakes. Celebrate them. Learn from them. Laugh at them. Laugh at yourself.

Teach this perspective to your children.  You’ve given them a skill that will serve them in life.

 

My thanks goes to anna-samoylova-535880-unsplash for the photo

 

 

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