The 5 Steps Followed By Successful Risk-Takers That Average People Think Are A Waste Of Time
Instead of reacting out of fear, pre-plan for success.
Barbara Olsen | Pexels Making a big decision can send shivers of fear down your spine. Some of us worry over everything while others seem to leap into the unknown. Highly successful people do a little of both, following five steps while making bold (but smart) decisions.
My biggest decisions have always been about following my heart. Not just following my heart in love, but also for my passions, believing that I can do whatever I set out to do even though there is no indication of future success except my ability to believe. That doesn't mean I've been reckless. I have been thoughtful while being brave, and that is the trick.
It may seem like a waste of time to some, but taking a methodical, thoughtful path to making a big decision is a great way to attract abundance. Here are the steps successful people follow when making big decisions
1. They set aside the emotions and look at the facts
Emotions are great — they are a wonderful part of our everyday existence, however they have a huge drawback: they can be completely false. Just think about simple day-to-day things like how you react to things when you’re hungry vs. how you react when you just had a nice meal.
Emotions change every second, so take a little time to be quiet and look beyond the emotions to the actual facts. Fear is an emotion and it will play with your mind until you decide to conquer it and move forward.
2. They decide what they will lose by making that decision
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Sometimes it’s easy to see what there is to lose when we take that chance. But the bigger question is not what we lose, but what we lose if we don’t do it.
The key is to look at how much regret you'll have over missing out on this future event and evaluating its value from there. These types of regrets, called "future misses" have been proven by researchers to cause almost as much regret as things that have happened in the past, showing that imaging a future miss can be a helpful tool for making decisions.
Remember, not making a decision or continuously postponing it is also a way of making a decision! It’s a way of saying that what’s on the other end is not important enough for you to alter your course.
3. They imagine themselves in both scenarios
I have found this one to be the most effective of all. Imagine yourself a few months from now or even a year looking back at your decision – which decision are you proud of? The fact that you took that leap of faith or because you followed through on your original course?
Looking back from that place in the future, if you could go back in time and make a decision, what would that decision be? Yes, it feels a bit like time travel, but it harkens back to the researched mentioned above, proven to be valuable in making decisions with the least amount of regret.
4. They refuse to get trapped in negative thoughts
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You can’t make the right decision from a place where you’re just putting yourself down. A decision should be empowering, even if it’s scary. It shouldn't make you feel less happy with yourself or make you feel unworthy.
People who are highly successful and make beneficial choices slow down when they feel negative thoughts approaching and make a conscious choice to reset before making a big decision. One great place to start is with a simple breathing exercise, like belly breathing, simple meditation (which has been shown to help decrease anxiety overall, as well) or with a guided meditation designed to help reframe your mindset.
Meditation has been shown highly effective in mindset training, according to research, and is a great tool used by many highly successful people.
5. They remind themselves that they can always make a different choice next time
Sometimes the only way to know what’s on the other side is to actually take the risk and step into the unknown. The direction is sometimes a coin toss, but you know you have to go in one direction or another.
Sometimes it will be the right direction and other times, it will be the wrong one. If it’s the right one, keep going. If it’s the wrong one, pick yourself up, go back to your safe place, recover, and make another decision.
We make risky decisions whether we want it or not, it’s part of the process of growing up and living your life to the fullest every single day.
Sometimes we soar high, other times we fall flat on our faces. What matters at the end is the ability to look back and say, “I tried, I did my best, I went for what I wanted. I was fearless while being full of fear, I took my chances, and I did things MY way.”
Lavinia Lumezanu is a freelance writer, blogger, and communications and public relations executive. She has been featured in, Fast Company, Yahoo, The Culture Trip, Thrive Global, Elephant Journal, JustLuxe, Fremont Tribune, and more.
