People who consistently perform at a high level are committed to
their success. They have a passion for their profession, have clear goals, and
are comfortable taking well-reasoned risks.
Top performers are talented and persistent risk-takers. Sub-optimal
performers often settle into their comfort zone, fall into recurring patterns
and stop challenging themselves.
The comfort zone is seductive. We all desire comfort. However, too
much comfort does not serve us well. An inability to occasionally step out of
your comfort zone—to challenge yourself and leave the familiar—will
ultimately limit your performance.
Adaptability is the key to getting out of your comfort zone. To thrive
in a world of rapid change, you have to be adept at adapting. The more comfortable
you are with taking risks and dealing with the resulting fear, the better you
will be at adapting.
It is normal to be fearful of change. Left unresolved, the fear response
can profoundly limit your performance. Fear is powerful. It will hamper your ability
to risk effectively. Learning how to prevail in the face of fear is a critical
step toward taking rewarding risks.
To become a more capable risk-taker, you need to move away from the
instinctive response of fear toward the counterintuitive response—to acknowledge
and accept it.
This approach has been validated by NASA. The astronauts who complete
their missions without the physical manifestations of fear acknowledge in advance
to themselves or others that they are going to be afraid.
Risk-taking yields vitality and greater achievement. For every reasonable
risk there is at least one potential reward—a Direct Reward, that can be
identified at the time the risk is being considered.
Consistent intelligent risk-taking yields Compound Rewards—the
surprise rewards that you cannot anticipate at the time you are considering the
risk. These are rewards you’ll never enjoy if you never step out of your
comfort zone. But you will enjoy them if you challenge yourself, leave your comfort
zone, and take some risks.
You don’t know the rewards you will enjoy by your willingness
to take thoughtful risks, but you do know the rewards will not occur unless you
are willing to take those risks. PE
