The unknown is a scary place. People like predictability and shy away from things that seem uncomfortable and foreign to them. This is the main reason why people remain mediocre throughout their lives. “Risk” is a very scary word to the majority of people and many spend their lives doing whatever they can to avoid what they are told is “risky”. In reality, life cannot be lived without some inherent risk, and success certainty can’t be reached without it. The people who realize the most success in their lifetime attack the unknown with confidence. They love to tackle what is commonly referred to as risk, and in the end, this is how they reap their rewards. Most people shy away from risk and the unknown for one reason, fear. Whether it be warranted fear or not is up for debate, however, no matter how you slice it, fear leads to inaction and inaction leads to mediocrity.
Everyone has fear
Fear is an emotion that is instilled within everyone. It is how you handle fear that makes one person different from another. The majority of people bend the knee to fear keeping them away from anything they interpret as risky. Others are able to control their fear and in turn take on more risk. The unknown and risk are directly correlated when it comes to fear. People like certainty in their outcomes and that is why so many of us go to college, work a 9-5 job, and retire at 65 years old. It is predictable, fairly easy, and for the most part if you stick to the path the outcome is known. When it comes to something that isn’t so cut and dry like starting a business, there are a lot more unknowns and therefore fear is invoked in most people. The other side of the coin is that when you take on more risk, you have a greater chance of receiving greater rewards and living a more satisfying life. Risks can be calculated even when there are many unknowns. For example, there are limitless resources out there to learn from to make sure you are on the right path with whatever it is you choose. There are free YouTube videos covering virtually every topic and you can learn anything at any time. You can also pick up books at the bookstore or online about your concerns as well. The best thing you can do to mitigate risk is to study people who are doing what you want to do. If you want to start a business, find someone who has started a business similar to yours and study their journey, their mistakes, and what the outcome of their decisions were. There are limitless amounts of content in books and videos covering this sort of stuff as previously mentioned. At the end of the day, fear can be mitigated by acquiring knowledge and applying that knowledge to experiences you encounter. This develops confidence and allows you to take on more risk. Conquering fear is an option for anyone that chooses it.
Your comfort zone is where dreams go to die
Anything within your comfort zone won’t get you to the next level you are striving to reach. Comfort leads to complacency and that leads to stagnation. In order to grow as a person and add success to your resume, you need to put yourself in uncomfortable situations. This means taking on new projects even without experience and not knowing exactly how it will pan out, or starting new habits like working out that make you feel uncomfortable every day. This constant pushing of oneself is what makes people better. Personally, a big struggle for me is going to bed at a decent hour and waking up early. I always find myself doing something late at night when I should be sleeping, and then I have difficulty waking up and starting my day off strong. I am comfortable with this habit and my body and mind are now complacent in letting this occur. In order to grow as a person, I know I have to break this habit and venture into the unknown of going to bed at the same reasonable time every night and waking up very early every morning. This change will be perceived as a threat by my body at first and then will eventually become a habit. If I keep up the bad habit I’m currently stuck in, I know that the bad habit’s effect will trickle down into other areas of my life and I cannot allow that. The point is that if you’re not progressing you’re regressing. Your comfort zone is something you never want to stay in for too long. It is where complacency cements itself and where mediocrity becomes a mainstay. Risk needs to be a frequent characteristic of your life in order to progress to the next stage of life. The unknown needs to be faced and conquered otherwise life will stagnate and regress. How will you choose to live your life?