Archive for September 22nd, 2013
The higher the stakes
the higher the fear. That’s what makes some decisions so difficult.
Think about it. Â When you go to lunch and have decide between two meals, the decision is simple. Because no one really cares if lunch is bad because you get the chance to try again tomorrow.
On the other hand, when you have two jobs offers out of business school and both give you clear but different prospects of success then for most people it feels impossible to choose. Â Or when you finally have a chance to leave your six figure law firm job to finally launch your start up. The stakes are high because leaving behind financial freedom just to fail feels terrifying.
This is why people avoid high stakes decisions whenever they can. Because the fear of failure is too great. The problem is high stakes projects are the most important type. Because high stakes projects are normally the best way to change everything.
In the end, it’s not the change that’s the hard part, Â it’s the fear. Â So we either have to figure out how to address where the fear comes from or just learn to look at it in the eye and walk side by side with it.
Both are really hard but very good choices.