“You miss 100% of the balls you never swing at.” Wayne Gretsky
Are you someone who easily takes risks and delights in the process of accomplishing new things? To gain success we must take risks, give it our best efforts without being assured that it will work out the way we want. This requires that we learn to fail gracefully.
The first time I was introduced to this concept I was confused. We are not surrounded by good models of failing gracefully; so, I had no idea what the person was talking about. Failing gracefully is the ability to separate who we are from what we do, and the level of success obtained from our efforts. The goal to trying is to learn, developing, and fully engaging in life. Risk taking often pays off in very clear and obvious rewards and other times we must search our hearts to find them. Thing is we will never know what will happen if we don’t try and we can be successful even if we fail.
JOURNAL PROMPTS
1. Do you take risks easily?
2. Does your level of risk taking help you to live the life of value you desire?
GUIDANCE
The first step to change is awareness. If you are finding yourself missing opportunities it may be appropriate to consider what is standing in the way of you taking healthy risks. If you find that your hesitancy to take, chances is cultivated by self-doubt take some time to look at your personal strengths. If you cannot think of them ask someone close to you to serve as a mirror and help you discover them for yourself. Determining which risks to take can be a difficult thing which is intimidating. By having faith in your ability to make good decisions you may grow in the ability to trust your instinct when deciding what risks to take.