 Does risk-taking freak you out or give you a buzz? ‘If you risk nothing, then you risk everything.’ (Geena Davis) Snapping my leg sideways at the knee was a painful experience. It shattered my confidence too. I had been cycling when, unexpectedly, I hit a curb and flew off, unceremoniously, and hit the ground hard. The next year was a gruelling experience of trying to learn to walk again. The consultant told me, bleakly, that my biking days were over – as were my chances of ever hiking, swimming or climbing stairs again. I felt stunned, numbed, in shock. How could this have happened? This changed when I met Leanne, a remarkable Olympic athletes’ physiotherapist. She asked if I’d like to cycle off road again. I told her what I had been told and had believed – that it wasn’t an option. Nevertheless, she persisted and posed the same question again. I felt frustrated and confused. I had already answered. She asked what I’d be afraid of happening if I were to cycle again. I responded that I risked sustaining further injury to my knee - and that really scared me. This turned out to be a transformational conversation. ‘Every time you went out on a bike, you risked injury. Knowing what you know now, if you were to go back in time, would that stop you taking up cycling?’ ‘Not at all’, I answered. ‘Some of my best life experiences have been out on the mountain bike.’ ‘So,’ she replied, ‘It’s not about what’s possible so much as your attitude to risk. Will you allow that same risk of injury to prevent you doing what you love now?’ Six months later, I cycled the longest distance I had ever done off road. It was a breath-taking experience. I learned that risk isn’t just about balancing probability and impact. Positive risk-taking is about stance: taking what can feel like a leap of faith, being willing to crash and burn if it all goes wrong and, at the same time, to experience the possibility of discovering or achieving more than we had ever dreamed possible. When have you taken a positive risk? What did you learn?
16 Comments
Chris Lever
7/10/2021 07:00:08 pm
In my younger years I was a rock climber, a parachutist, caver and mountaineer. In my early 20s I was a commercial Passenger Ferry Captain. In my midlife my family and I travelled throughout Africa including to some interesting hot spots and conflict areas. We spent a month or so each year in the bush. I helped set up (with a few friends) teleios consulting which at the time had one customer and one months salary in the bank and 10 new colleagues. That was 28 years ago. But now in my later years these things seem so simple and straightforward. My decision is now to retire soon and this feels a totally different order of risk. I thought it would be easy but it is turning out to be the scariest decision of all. Currently wrestling with a sense of purpose and relevancy. But then in the calm of seascapes and forrests and mountains and playing with my gorgeous grandchildren I remember who I am is not the product of what I do. What I do flows out of who I am and whatever this will look like in the years to come I will continue to give and grow. But it still feels the riskiest thing I have ever done.
Nick Wright
8/10/2021 10:52:00 am
Hi Chris and thank you for sharing such inspiring glimpses of your life journey. What an adventure! You reminded me of some similar yet different risk-taking experiences in my own life too (https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/sensible).
Richard Simpson
8/10/2021 03:40:34 pm
So nice to meet another fan of Supertramp's Logical Song. It articulates the major tension which has run through my life. Happily, now I'm retired (and that wasn't scary at all), the tension is hardly felt at all. And I also feel it was ultimately a creative tension, although at times of great stress I wouldn't have recognised that description. Existential tensions also feed into our attitude to risk.
Nick Wright
8/10/2021 05:40:29 pm
Hi Richard. Yes, that song reflected so well how I felt as a teenager. "Existential tensions also feed into our attitude to risk.' That sounds intriguing. Can you say more..?
Richard Simpson
8/10/2021 06:12:45 pm
Existential tensions feed into our attitude to risk - what do I mean? I think I mean that sometimes (for me at least) I had a powerful sense, a calling if you will, to be a creative person with imagination but to follow that calling seemed a huge risk. It went against my upbringing. Eventually, when the safe, secure life I was actually leading became unbearable, I'd jump off the cliff edge, quite spontaneously. But never towards my calling. I was too blind to see it. Just jumping seemed sufficient. Away from, not towards. Which turned out usually to be a displacement activity. The risk of losing financial security and possibly my marriage, and the self-identity I saw reflected in the eyes of others, against the risk of letting go into the unknown. As the song says: Please tell me who I am. It's taken me a lifetime to even begin to answer that. When I look back, that all seems overstated and slightly hysterical, but it was painfully real at the time.
Nick Wright
10/10/2021 08:45:33 am
Hi Richard. Thank you for sharing so personally, deeply and profoundly. What a great example of an existential journey and how you have experienced it, including the tensions, and acted and shaped it on route.
Richard Simpson
8/10/2021 10:18:52 am
Thoughtful and enquiring as ever Nick. I've always found my attitude to risk to be contextual. I've always been open to changes of direction in my career, so much so that some (my wife included) might label me as cavalier. But in other areas - like riding a mountain bike! - I would be petrified. But your post put me in mind of attitudes to risk of those bodies who regulate and legislate, and 'experts' who also hold the balance of power over us, such as the doctor in your example. So often, for understandable reasons, they want to eliminate risk entirely. The downside of that is a general desensitising to risk which can be just as dangerous as risk itself. I'm reminded of the example of Dutch street design which devolves risk management to individuals. Here's a link to an article if you're interested. I loved the quote: It's better to have safety through uncertainty than to have crashes with certainty.' https://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2021/03/who-will-rule-the-roads-making-sense-of-dutch-street-design/
Nick Wright
8/10/2021 11:10:40 am
Thank you, Richard. I found your reflections on the risks of risk aversion very interesting. On that theme, you may find this short related piece resonates? https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/danger
Ian Henderson
8/10/2021 10:39:33 am
Great article Nick. My father was told by a doctor that I would never walk again due to a paralysis in my right leg. I'm not sure I consciously battled against his diagnosis - I was only 6 - but, as you know, I went on to walk, run, play football at a high level, drive, cook, tell jokes etc. I remember throwing my leg calipers away and walking unaided for the first time. It wasn't easy but I had the support from some very caring folks.
Nick Wright
8/10/2021 10:58:09 am
Thank you, Ian. Wow - what a scary experience that must have been for your father at the time...and how your life has proved to be so very different to what the doctor had imagined. Throwing your leg calipers away reminded me vividly of the moment when I finally managed to walk again after my knee injury. My daughter was alongside me as I took those first nervous - yet determined - steps. Experiences like this often make me appreciate what I had taken so much for granted before.
Alex Pledger
10/10/2021 01:21:20 pm
Nice article Nick. It's true, as you point out, that sometimes you don't even know you're taking a risk. If we did a risk assessment on everything in our lives we'd be in paralysis! But when it comes to deliberately moving out of your comfort zone, I'm with Del Boy 'he who dares wins'.
Nick Wright
11/10/2021 09:33:07 am
Thank you, Alex. Yes, 'Who Dares Wins' in a great motto for the British SAS too..! I'd love to hear more: what's the greatest risk you have taken deliberately - what did you do, what happened and what did you learn?
E.G. (Ervin) Sebastian - CPC, CSL
10/10/2021 04:21:40 pm
What does your intuition tell you, Nick, about my answer to this question?
Nick Wright
11/10/2021 09:28:20 am
That's easy - Ervin risk-taker par excellence..! :)
Leslie Levad
14/10/2021 06:07:20 pm
Both your sharing and Chris story makes me long for being able to take acceptable risks. Corporations have an appetite for risk that exceeds an individual's risk tendency. It is inspiring to connect with fellows that think similarly.
Nick Wright
14/10/2021 06:09:47 pm
Thank you, Leslie. I'm curious. What risks would you most love to take..? Leave a Reply. |
Nick WrightI'm a psychological coach, trainer and OD consultant. Curious to discover how can I help you? Get in touch! 
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