Make Life A Daring-Do Adventure
Too much comfort in our lives and work is as unhealthy for
personal growth as too much risk and danger. The key to taking
risks is to learn the 7 keys of personal change.
1. First Change Yourself. When we find ourselves in an
unsatisfactory position that is due to circumstances beyond our
control, such as a job we no longer enjoy or people we no longer
like, most of us try to change the situation. We complain, moan,
criticize, judge, and condemn. None of which works. That's
because there is only one way to change an unsatisfactory
situation. And that's to change ourselves.
2. Let Go Of Old Positions. When we stay entrenched in
old positions, even if they are no longer relevant, there is no
possibility of change or improvement. That's when it is time to
take a risk. That's what Mikhail Gorbachev did in the 1980's
when he recognized the changes in the world around him. In his
meetings with the US President Reagan, Gorbachev took a huge
risk in offering a one-sided reduction in nuclear weapons. The
risk meant the ending of the arms race and with it unprecedented
changes in the history of the world.
3. Think Like A New Start. When we start a new adventure
or a new enterprise, there is a buzz about us. We've all felt
it. It's like the first day at a new school or a new job. Sadly,
we soon lose that feeling beneath familiar routines and habits.
In taking personal risks, we can re-discover it. As Ray Kroc,
founder of McDonalds said: "When you're green you grow; when
you're ripe, you rot."
4. Re-Invent Yourself. Real personal change comes when we
do more than just learn a few new skills and habits. It comes
when we re-invent ourselves. Re-inventing ourselves is a way of
casting off one identity and putting on another. Tom Peters goes
so far as to say that the imagination and zeal to regularly
re-create yourself is the definition of greatness. And it
doesn't have to be something you do just a few times in a
lifetime; it can be something you do each new day.
5. Manage Your Own Morale. Taking risks is fraught with
difficulties and dangers but we can keep going if we learn how
to manage our own morale. The keys to morale management are
working on your belief that things will turn out positively in
the end and creating a support system to help you through tough
times. This can be your own support group, the inspiration of
people who've been there and done that, and keeping the whole
process light.
6. Step Back. When we take risks, it is valuable to be
able to distance ourselves from what we are involved in and take
an objective position. Here we can see what is going on without
being in the fray. When we do that, we can accept criticism
dispassionately and not personally. It's also the place we can
go to take a breather and chill out.
7. Be Willing To Fail Before You Succeed. All risk
carries with it the possibility of failure. Fear of failure is
one of the chief reasons we hesitate to take risks in the first
place. But we can overcome the fear of failure by making friends
with it. As William Faulkner says, there is far more to learn
from failure than from success: "To try something you can't do,
to try and fail, then try again. That to me is success. My
generation will be judged by the splendour of their failures."
Taking these 7 steps in personal change assures you of moving
assuredly out of your comfort zones. When you do, you'll find
that the old comfort zone has now expanded and what once looked
like a danger zone has now become a place you feel safe with.