Take Risks Through Knowledge of Self

Story by Trey Ford

Overcoming fear, and releasing the comfort of certainty, is a big part of stepping into the entrepreneurial space. Take the risk. It is well worth it, especially in the new “gig economy” with prices rising and technology expanding. Multiple streams of income, I believe, are essential for living a pleasurable lifestyle with all of the perks available to those who obtain the resources to enjoy them.

The way to address those negative expectations and premonitions of obstacles, is to face them head on. But for some reason, although every story, fiction or nonfiction, novel or movie, speaks of attacking fear in this manner, we seem to forget this action step when facing our own fears. Yet, fear is the only thing that gets smaller when you run towards it.

Uncertainty is one of the seeds of fear. Another name for doubt, it causes us to hesitate when we should be pushing through.

In Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Human Needs”, the need for certainty is the 2nd most basic need, only less basic than the need for food, water, and shelter. The need for certainty and security only feeds the ego. The human need for fulfillment can only be experienced through creating impact outside of oneself.

All growth happens outside of the comfort zone. Just like a muscle, faith must be built through the experience of stress met with the resistance of will power. So where can we extract the power of will? From the place of alignment and clarity. The ability to define gives us the ability to fulfill. Definitions done right are crystal clear.

How crystal clear is your vision, your purpose, and your why? Where can you get that clarity or more clarity than you already have? I believe one answer to the second question is, from knowing thyself on a deeper level. You have been you for ___(mentally insert age here)___ but how often do you get outside of yourself, so to speak, and do a full walk around.

Isn’t it interesting how in networking situations we focus on the question “what do you do?” more than the question “who are you” or ”who am I”? Especially when I AM is arguably the most powerful phrase in the universe.

Last year I took the Wealth Dynamics Profile Assessment and though I felt very confident that I knew myself well, the articulation of my strengths, opportunities, and best suited partnership strategies was extremely insightful. Through a better understanding of oneself and how we best relate to others in the constructs of business, we can take purposeful actions with boldness, even if we are uncertain of all that lies ahead of us.

We can do so with this awareness, because we are certain of ourselves, and the genius that lies within us. The people who present what society perceives as fearlessness encounter just as many or most likely MORE uncertainties daily than those playing it safe. So their lives are not absent of uncertainty, rather their lives are more abundant in the certainty of knowing themselves, and following their flow.

When we take risks our true vitality can be expressed. Consider the toddler, at an age and size where almost anything could be considered a risk, but they do it anyway. And they do it BOLDLY, with child-like faith.