Taking Risks

Many of us have great difficulty making decisions, making commitments and generally taking the first step. Recently I worked a cryptoquote that said, “Two mistakes people commonly make are not taking the first step and not going far enough.

What keeps us from making those important decisions? Fear, plain and simple. Some of us think we aren’t smart enough to make the right decision, some fear the consequences of our decisions on others we care about. But no decision IS a decision. It is a decision to maintain the status quo. 

Ask.com states that we make about 612 decisions per day. WOW! Most of those decisions are automatic, coffee or tea, toast or muffin, black or brown shoes. The decisions that become problematic are the decisions we fear...although I have known a few to stress out over a biscuit!

Unlike mathematics where we can make a mistake and erase it and start again, in life, any decision however small can have irreversible consequences. Those are the decisions that leave us paralyzed.

So what to do? 

It is said there are two kinds of decision makers. I call them “Quick Draw” and “Mud Wader”.Quick Draw decides before the problem is properly stated and lives with the consequences believing that doing something is better than doing nothing. Better to mess up than miss out.

Mud Wader on the other hand, stresses out, thinks of everything that could go wrong, how others will be affected and stalls. Sometimes the stall last long enough that the decision is no longer relevant. Thus maintaining the status quo.

We are, each of us, that butterfly that flaps its wings and causes a hurricane on the other side of the world. But should we stop flapping? What would be the consequence of that decision? How much progress would be made if we all just let things happen?

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