Finding your own relationship to Risk by Observing your day to day Habits
I have found the month of January to be a continuous ebb and flow. At single moments I felt tuned in and fully connected and at moments I felt tired, confused and restless.
In the variety of moments that exist I always try to come back to my daily practice. And when I started to look at my routines and practices I started to also explore conversations with myself around risk. And this is certainly a topic that comes up often with clients and friends.
Thinking to myself am I too comfortable? Am I too much in my routine or is it time to take a risk to do something different.
Leaving me with the open ended of question of how do you find a relationship to risk that feels supportive and how do you know when you are operating from a place of fear versus a place of healthy curiosity.
This can be a very thin line that only you will have the answer to.
The only way I have ever been able to truly learn about risk is through my own experiences and my own practice of taking leaps both big and small. Reading and acquiring knowledge about the risks others have taken can certainly be inspirational and motivational AND we still require something within ourselves to do it for ourselves. Our knowledge can only take us so far.
And one of the biggest myths I used to believe was that taking a risk only mattered if it was big and had massive impact.
What I have come to realize is that small risks matter just as much. As much as I can crave outward validation in the risks I choose to take, it is always the inward approval of my heart that I desire most.
A risk is simple a question between you and yourself. The urge to do it differently, desire change and to take conscious action.
On a day to day basis we are presented with the opportunity to continue with what we know is familiar or to take a risk and to do things differently. Neither is right or wrong. Good or bad. Our timing is our own.
The first step in finding our own relationship to risk is to identify what our patterns and routines are. What are the things we do on a day to day basis. And then asking ourselves how do they serve and do I want to continue?
When we come to a place where we decide that we do not want to continue we are entering into the space of risk. To explore a different option and to start a new pattern or routine.
So the question becomes am I afraid of doing something differently because I might fail, not get it right or not like it or I am avoiding a healthy curiosity to the unknown.
This question is the key. And the more we choose to engage with ourselves the more awareness we gain and the more honest we get in our answers.
One of the advantages of working through this practice on a daily basis is that it gives you the opportunity to stay in practice. To use the situations that arise on a day to day to basis as smaller opportunity to work with yourself.
When we start to take small risks it allows us to not be paralyzed with bigger risks. Think of it as a muscle the more it is used the stronger it becomes.
So here is an example for my own life to share with you:
I get up in the morning and check my phone before my meditation. When I ask myself how this serves me I realize it does not. It actually distracts me and so I decide I don’t want to continue it. When I ask the question am I afraid of doing it differently because I might fail or I am avoiding a healthy curiosity, I realize yes I am afraid I might miss something or need to do something immediately and ultimately this would lead to failure. Exploring a different way to engage in my morning routine is a risk. It requires me to feel uncomfortable, to possibly try it and not be able to stay with it. To actually miss something important. And so I can choose to practice this and engage on a daily basis with myself if I choose. Finding my way in and deciding how far I want to go. This is how I start to discover what healthy risk looks like for me.
When I stay in this space of observation in my daily practices I am able to transfer it into bigger risks I am wanting to take, like moving to another location, changing jobs, starting a business. These are just a few examples but we all have bigger risks we know our waiting deep in our hearts.
Building our risk muscle is powerful and we all have the ability to start small. Your timeline is your own.
What is your relationship to Risk?