We have all heard the expression, “don’t try, just do.” So, “try” many times has a negative connotation.
Especially when knowing that doing, and not just trying, will have a positive outcome. For example: “I’m going to try to eat healthier” or “I’m going to try and exercise more.” In both cases, doing it will have great health benefits, so “don’t try, just do.”
I would suggest that when it comes to taking risks, “try” can have a more positive connotation because the outcome may result in success or failure, and that is not as predictable. So when taking risks, “you can do it if you try.”
Taking risks doesn’t mean that you will succeed every time. The risk may lead to success that you can celebrate or failure that you can learn from. Either way, it is better to have tried and failed rather than having never tried at all.
Risk-taking involves thinking outside the box and may stretch you beyond your comfort zone. It may involve hiring that person from outside the industry, looking at acquisitions to expand, or adding plumbing to your HVAC company. All these risks need to be calculated and planned for, and not just treated as “risky behavior.” If planned for, risk-taking can become very rewarding.
Once again, risk-taking is not as predictable as the results achieved from eating healthier or exercising regularly, so it may make you uncomfortable, which may cause you not to try. The uncertainty may make you uneasy, yet the rewards can be great. The fear of failure will keep you from succeeding and achieving your dreams and goals.
“Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett
You see, risk-taking in and of itself is not about achieving a positive outcome from every chance; rather it’s a process of learning and adjusting until you succeed. The key to success is learning from your failures and moving past them.
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison
Failure should not be viewed as a negative, but as a learning experience that leads to wisdom. It makes one stronger and persistent. Your desire for success in anything that you do should always trump your fear of failure.
Yes, taking risks does involve failure. If it didn’t, and you were successful every time that you tried something, then it wouldn’t be a risk at all. It’s OK that you don’t succeed every time because you learn from every failure, which makes you a better person by improving your ability to recover faster the next time a difficult situation comes your way.
The worse thing that can happen is that you stop taking risks due to experiencing failure. When this happens, we become stagnant, and growth becomes difficult. When learning from failure and moving on, one becomes humbly confident. That may sound contradictory, yet failure teaches us to be humble, and learning from it will build confidence to overcome the fear of the next risk.
Fortunately, according to many psychologists, confidence is a learnable skill.
In an article written by Marelisa Fabrega, “Daring to Live Fully,” she describes “a mantra that will change your life”:
“Everything is Learnable.”
She proposes a question:
“Look at the following phrases:
- I wish I were…
- I wish I had…
- I wish I knew how to…
How would you conclude each of these phrases? There are hundreds of ways to do so, and nearly 100% of them are learnable.”
Then she cites 20 examples of how skills can be learned, and confidence is one of them.
Marelisa concludes with, “If you want to learn something, go learn it. You don’t need anyone’s permission (except for your own).
Live your best life by understanding that everything is learnable. Make it your new mantra!”
So, the takeaway here is that you can learn to have confidence when taking risks. You can learn to overcome your fears. And you can learn to be humbly confident.
No matter what the outcome is, failure or success, we grow and learn from it either way. Learning these skills will help you take more risks, which in turn will increase your chances of success in achieving your personal and business goals.
Steve Mores is the Vice President of Training and Sales at Dynamic Air Quality Solutions
Service Roundtable is dedicated to growing your bottom line and helping your business maximize its full potential. These groups of contractors work together to assist you with marketing, sales, business, and so much more. Twice a month, seminars around the United States and Canada are held to network and further assist your business. Visit Service Roundtable.com to see if there are Success Days in your area!
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