Taking Extraordinary Risks
Guest User
“I don’t even know if I can achieve my goals. Not everyone is meant to fulfill their dreams. And to take the financial hit to do it is a gamble. I can’t dip into my savings.”
The truth is, creating an extraordinary life requires an extraordinary risk.
But contrary to what your rational brain would have you believe, the financial gamble is not your biggest fear.
If you think about it, we take financial gambles in the stock market and housing market without thinking twice (I was one of the people who bought a house in 2008 when the market went south).
While we tend to focus on money, there are much bigger gambles that terrify your nervous system and challenge your survival programming.
* The fear of not meeting the expectations of your family, peer group, and society.
* The fear of authentically being seen and heard for who you really are, not who you’ve had to be to get approval as a child.
* The fear of showing up and putting in the work to learn the new skills required for your next level.
* The fear of saying no to other people so you can say yes to yourself.
None of these are easy to overcome, but here’s the question you must ask yourself if you truly want to create your next level.
Am I going to embrace the challenge or settle for the struggle?
Because staying stuck in a mediocre life, while convenient, is not a path to happiness or fulfillment. You will struggle in a soul-sucking job you hate. You’ll struggle with getting your needs met in relationships because you don’t have the confidence to ask for what you want. You’ll struggle with the regrets and the “What if’s?” when you’re on your deathbed. You’ll struggle to set a positive example for your kids, who will learn to play small and conform to external pressure.
Meanwhile, finding your purpose and creating an amplified life will come with moments of pain as well, but the pain is the result of growing through the challenge.
There will moments of “imposter syndrome” where you aren’t sure you know what you’re doing.
There will be setbacks and moments that seem like “failure,” which you’ll eventually discover were learning opportunities.
There will be people who don’t “get it” and criticize or reject you.
But at least you’re not rejecting yourself and your dreams. You’ll be living in integrity with your purpose. You will experience the joy that comes from living authentically from your heart, giving your best version of yourself to the world.
One of life’s great paradoxes is that when you do the “hard” thing, life becomes easy. When you continue to do the easy thing, life becomes hard.
Challenge is a requirement for growth. Struggle is a choice.
When you say yes to the challenge, life will always say yes to you.