Many times in our lives we are faced with a decision on whether or not to do something… to take that next step, to take that chance, to make that next move towards what we want. And when that happens it raises all kinds of questions… questions that SEEM to be about all sorts of surface level, practical stuff—but when investigated further, at their core, are simply this:
“Am I worth the risk?”
I had to ask myself this recently, when it came to making yet another substantial investment in my business, one that I had been hemming-and-hawing over for such a long time… because I want to be smart, and practical and above all I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing.
But because there are absolutely no guarantees in life, I was not going to get the satisfaction of knowing that ahead of time now was I… damn it!
I felt stuck, unable to move ahead, waiting on something or someone to confirm it for me, that I was on the right track, and that it was okay to go ahead. But of course that didn’t happen. I was stalled out, and when I get in that spot I know it’s time to check in and do some digging.
I had to ask myself: why? Why is it so easy to spend that extra money on so many other things in life, but not this? To spend it on so many other people in my life, but not me in this regard?
That’s when I realized that the real issue here was that I didn’t really believe I was worth the risk. I thought about how much money I’ve spent on far more “wasteful” things, fleeting experiences, and trivial stuff… things that don’t even have the remotest chance of “paying me back” on my investment. Is this sounding familiar?
It’s pretty mind boggling how we struggle so mightily when it comes to putting our money into things that almost definitely WILL pay us back, and instead choose to spend it on stuff that almost definitely won’t. But it’s not mind boggling at all really… because those two different ways of spending, say two very different things:
Spending on things and experiences promise to make you (however temporarily) into something, or someone, else. But spending on yourself and/or your business, asks you to become something else—in a much more long term way. Unlike the “stuff”, it doesn’t promise to do the work for you. Instead, it depends on you doing your work, and doing it well. So it raises the question immediately—whether you can really be that, and do that, and whether you’re really worth it.
And you are, damnit!
You SO ARE.
But all the encouraging words from outsiders are worth exactly jack-squat when it comes to this. You have to take a good look and decide for yourself. You have to get honest and ask yourself how committed you are. This is your reality check… do you plan to give it all you’ve got, or do you plan to give it a little bit of what you’ve got, but just give up when things get tough?
There is no wrong answer, no one is obligated to hang in or to push through— you just have to decide if it’s what you really want—and if it is, if it’s worth the risk to get there. If YOU are worth the risk to get there.
I decided I was, and not because I had some inspirational after-school-special moment of total bright-shiny-belief-in-myself… but because I saw that, yes, this is what I really want, and this is what I need to do to make this work. I saw how very committed I’ve been, and how hard I’ve worked to come all this way, and I wasn’t about to back down now just because the evil cheerleader (i.e. self-doubt) is on a tear.
I remembered how I’m not just making a living here… I’m making a LIFE.
And that is most definitely worth the risk. How about you—is that next step you’ve been thinking about taking worth the risk? Well, let me ask you something critical here…
what is the alternative???
For me the alternative was nothing I could bear, not without at least giving it my absolute damnedest first. And I can only do that, if I decide I’m worth the gamble—if I will follow through with what that investment asks me to become.
And I will. So I am.
And so are you.
Any risk spent moving in the direction of your love, is a risk worth taking, is it not? It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about keeping playing the game either way. Why? because that’s all the fun of it! 😉
So, I made my next move.
Now, your turn.
♥
