one fine summer day before my freshman
year of high school I decided to take
viola lessons reason being my
fascination with its sound its
sophistication and its versatility
just three lessons later I decided I
wanted to join the school orchestra in
high school my private lesson teacher
was shocked though it was difficult I
auditioned and they let me join I was
placed last chair in the lowest
Orchestra yet I was ecstatic as the
weeks passed by I began to feel
overwhelmed by the number of things I
had to learn playing each note worse
than everyone else was embarrassing
however this discomfort is also what
pushed me to try even harder and spend
time outside of school developing my
skills just two years in I’m gonna be in
the second highest Orchestra at school
though extremely uncomfortable joining
the school orchestra has been one of the
best decisions I’ve made my entire high
school career so today let’s all pick up
a musical instrument read some music and
start to play a tune a tune about taking
risks and expanding our comfort zone
what is a risk a simple Google search
yields the following definition a
situation involving exposure to danger
another definition says it is a measure
of the probability and severity of
adverse effects in other words risk is
just a calculation of how likely an
incident is to occur and how dire the
consequences would be if the incident
occurred risk assessment is dependent
upon an individual’s risk tolerance
and risk perception which means it’s
just as subjective as someone’s taste in
music
our brains unconsciously link the
uncertainty that comes with taking a
risk to a threat
now while this skill may have been
useful as cavemen we need to realize
that in today’s society the uncertainty
that comes to taking a risk does not
necessarily mean a threat because we
associate the word risk with the words
danger harm and loss we have stopped
viewing them as opportunities to grow
and learn everything on some level
requires risk but there’s different
amounts of uncertainty and discomfort
involved imagine when you were a young
child skills such as brushing your teeth
and tying your shoes didn’t just come
naturally at first they were out of our
comfort zone but gradually we got used
to them the same goes for new skills as
we keep doing them we start to feel more
and more comfortable but that doesn’t
just mean that you should stop there
imagine say that you should not stop
there because imagine playing a tune
further and perfecting it for the rest
of your life
if that sounds uninteresting wouldn’t
the same apply for not expanding our
comfort zone as well there’s a beautiful
story that comes to mind about two seeds
one wants to grow and explore the world
it wants to grow the other prefers to be
as is scared about the pain danger or
failure it may experience if it tried to
grow the first grows and experiences the
warm Sun and do the second lies dormant
just waiting for the perfect timing to
grow a hen comes and eats it
this is a classic example of loss
aversion because the second seed was too
afraid of the losses that it would
experience it never grew let’s learn
from this let’s step out of our comfort
zone and be open to taking risks but how
exactly do we avoid taking risks
professor and award-winning author Andy
Belinsky writes about our various
avoidance techniques in his book titled
reach the first is full-on avoidance
it’s like how I don’t go to the gym as I
feel people will realize I don’t know
how to operate the machines they’ll
start to judge me and I won’t feel
comfortable the second tactic is partial
completion this is when you do something
outside of your comfort zone not
performing to the best of your ability I
sometimes try to play pieces my brother
has played on the viola but don’t end up
putting in a hundred percent of my
effort as I think I’ll not be good
enough even when I try the third tactic
is procrastination putting off
activities which make us uncomfortable
until the very last minute I started my
computer programming course in July when
I was supposed to start in June because
I was overwhelmed the fourth and final
tactic is to have someone else
perform the task with knowledge of our
risk avoidance techniques and the story
of the seeds in mind it’s now time to
plant some implementable solutions we
can use on a daily basis to fine-tune
our risk-taking abilities this simple
acronym R is K risk will help us
determine whether the timing is right or
not the R stands for realistic be real
about the situation how likely is it to
occur and what exactly is there to lose
and to gain I interest is taking this
risk in your best inch
does it fuel your curiosity does it help
you in any way S stands for single the
single most important person in any
situation is you are you able to deal
with the discomfort of taking this risk
because if the stakes are too high then
don’t take the risk and finally K K
stands for klutz because no one’s
perfect it’s perfectly alright to make
mistakes Calvin Coolidge once said all
growth depends upon activity basically
as long as you’re making genuine attempt
at something you are going to grow and
improve with each passing day we come
closer and closer to 2019 we’ll
celebrate New Year’s Eve and write down
our resolutions and goals for the next
year now don’t get me wrong I think
resolutions are a great idea however
many of us fail to keep up with our
resolutions because we set unrealistic
expectations for ourselves without
taking into account our schedules and
the resources necessary to achieve them
which is why psychotherapist and
Psychology Today writer Amy Warren
suggest setting measurable goals every
month rather than once every year this
way you’re able to check in and make
small changes throughout the year as
necessary today is August 1st 2018 it’s
a new month and the day when you can
start setting your monthly goal for
August today I challenge each and every
one of you to set that goal do that
thing you’ve always wanted to do or
think you may like but aren’t so sure
start learning a new language meeting
new people
dancing up parties just do it but when
you do you have to be ready to accept
that you’re not going to be the very
best anymore and that’s fine it
years before Jackie Chan became a famous
martial artist before Vera Wang became a
renowned designer and before Abraham
Lincoln became a world-class orator Mark
Zuckerberg himself once said the biggest
risk is not taking any risk in a world
that’s changing really quickly the only
strategy that is guaranteed to fail is
not taking risks the 21st century is
rapidly advancing with changes in
technology diversity and society
companies need individuals who are ready
to deal with this discomfort that comes
with taking a risk these individuals
need to be ready to take risks and deal
and adapt quickly to different
situations risk-taking makes us grow
increases our adaptability makes us
wiser helps us live better lives it even
helps our society prosper as every item
that we use today like computers cell
phones and toasters were made with risk
an article by a spiritual leader
resonated with me and is something I’d
like to share with you all today he said
life is like a musical instrument play
it and enjoy it if everyone played the
same tune we wouldn’t have such a large
variety of music like we do today in
fact not a single musician we know and
love became famous for playing someone
else’s tune we need to make our own
music and start taking risks to live our
own lives so take risks because without
little technical difficulty life without
risks or uncertainty would be flat thank you
year of high school I decided to take
viola lessons reason being my
fascination with its sound its
sophistication and its versatility
just three lessons later I decided I
wanted to join the school orchestra in
high school my private lesson teacher
was shocked though it was difficult I
auditioned and they let me join I was
placed last chair in the lowest
Orchestra yet I was ecstatic as the
weeks passed by I began to feel
overwhelmed by the number of things I
had to learn playing each note worse
than everyone else was embarrassing
however this discomfort is also what
pushed me to try even harder and spend
time outside of school developing my
skills just two years in I’m gonna be in
the second highest Orchestra at school
though extremely uncomfortable joining
the school orchestra has been one of the
best decisions I’ve made my entire high
school career so today let’s all pick up
a musical instrument read some music and
start to play a tune a tune about taking
risks and expanding our comfort zone
what is a risk a simple Google search
yields the following definition a
situation involving exposure to danger
another definition says it is a measure
of the probability and severity of
adverse effects in other words risk is
just a calculation of how likely an
incident is to occur and how dire the
consequences would be if the incident
occurred risk assessment is dependent
upon an individual’s risk tolerance
and risk perception which means it’s
just as subjective as someone’s taste in
music
our brains unconsciously link the
uncertainty that comes with taking a
risk to a threat
now while this skill may have been
useful as cavemen we need to realize
that in today’s society the uncertainty
that comes to taking a risk does not
necessarily mean a threat because we
associate the word risk with the words
danger harm and loss we have stopped
viewing them as opportunities to grow
and learn everything on some level
requires risk but there’s different
amounts of uncertainty and discomfort
involved imagine when you were a young
child skills such as brushing your teeth
and tying your shoes didn’t just come
naturally at first they were out of our
comfort zone but gradually we got used
to them the same goes for new skills as
we keep doing them we start to feel more
and more comfortable but that doesn’t
just mean that you should stop there
imagine say that you should not stop
there because imagine playing a tune
further and perfecting it for the rest
of your life
if that sounds uninteresting wouldn’t
the same apply for not expanding our
comfort zone as well there’s a beautiful
story that comes to mind about two seeds
one wants to grow and explore the world
it wants to grow the other prefers to be
as is scared about the pain danger or
failure it may experience if it tried to
grow the first grows and experiences the
warm Sun and do the second lies dormant
just waiting for the perfect timing to
grow a hen comes and eats it
this is a classic example of loss
aversion because the second seed was too
afraid of the losses that it would
experience it never grew let’s learn
from this let’s step out of our comfort
zone and be open to taking risks but how
exactly do we avoid taking risks
professor and award-winning author Andy
Belinsky writes about our various
avoidance techniques in his book titled
reach the first is full-on avoidance
it’s like how I don’t go to the gym as I
feel people will realize I don’t know
how to operate the machines they’ll
start to judge me and I won’t feel
comfortable the second tactic is partial
completion this is when you do something
outside of your comfort zone not
performing to the best of your ability I
sometimes try to play pieces my brother
has played on the viola but don’t end up
putting in a hundred percent of my
effort as I think I’ll not be good
enough even when I try the third tactic
is procrastination putting off
activities which make us uncomfortable
until the very last minute I started my
computer programming course in July when
I was supposed to start in June because
I was overwhelmed the fourth and final
tactic is to have someone else
perform the task with knowledge of our
risk avoidance techniques and the story
of the seeds in mind it’s now time to
plant some implementable solutions we
can use on a daily basis to fine-tune
our risk-taking abilities this simple
acronym R is K risk will help us
determine whether the timing is right or
not the R stands for realistic be real
about the situation how likely is it to
occur and what exactly is there to lose
and to gain I interest is taking this
risk in your best inch
does it fuel your curiosity does it help
you in any way S stands for single the
single most important person in any
situation is you are you able to deal
with the discomfort of taking this risk
because if the stakes are too high then
don’t take the risk and finally K K
stands for klutz because no one’s
perfect it’s perfectly alright to make
mistakes Calvin Coolidge once said all
growth depends upon activity basically
as long as you’re making genuine attempt
at something you are going to grow and
improve with each passing day we come
closer and closer to 2019 we’ll
celebrate New Year’s Eve and write down
our resolutions and goals for the next
year now don’t get me wrong I think
resolutions are a great idea however
many of us fail to keep up with our
resolutions because we set unrealistic
expectations for ourselves without
taking into account our schedules and
the resources necessary to achieve them
which is why psychotherapist and
Psychology Today writer Amy Warren
suggest setting measurable goals every
month rather than once every year this
way you’re able to check in and make
small changes throughout the year as
necessary today is August 1st 2018 it’s
a new month and the day when you can
start setting your monthly goal for
August today I challenge each and every
one of you to set that goal do that
thing you’ve always wanted to do or
think you may like but aren’t so sure
start learning a new language meeting
new people
dancing up parties just do it but when
you do you have to be ready to accept
that you’re not going to be the very
best anymore and that’s fine it
years before Jackie Chan became a famous
martial artist before Vera Wang became a
renowned designer and before Abraham
Lincoln became a world-class orator Mark
Zuckerberg himself once said the biggest
risk is not taking any risk in a world
that’s changing really quickly the only
strategy that is guaranteed to fail is
not taking risks the 21st century is
rapidly advancing with changes in
technology diversity and society
companies need individuals who are ready
to deal with this discomfort that comes
with taking a risk these individuals
need to be ready to take risks and deal
and adapt quickly to different
situations risk-taking makes us grow
increases our adaptability makes us
wiser helps us live better lives it even
helps our society prosper as every item
that we use today like computers cell
phones and toasters were made with risk
an article by a spiritual leader
resonated with me and is something I’d
like to share with you all today he said
life is like a musical instrument play
it and enjoy it if everyone played the
same tune we wouldn’t have such a large
variety of music like we do today in
fact not a single musician we know and
love became famous for playing someone
else’s tune we need to make our own
music and start taking risks to live our
own lives so take risks because without
little technical difficulty life without
risks or uncertainty would be flat thank you
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