“Security is mostly superstition.”
- Helen Keller

We recently met with a very successful business man for some advice about growing our company. The conversation quickly turned to perceptions of risk versus gain. “Early on in the company,” he told us, “I offered five employees lower salaries in exchange for stocks in the business. One of them took it, four of them declined.” (As it turns out, the four who declined were all women. They wanted more security.) That same company is now worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

THIS WEEK: Examine what feels scary, but invigorating to you…terrifying, but totally thrilling. Where do you pull back, when really, you’re longing to spread your wings? Now ask yourself: what would you be risking if you reached for the upside of that creative tension? We encourage you to peel that question like an onion. Ask it repeatedly, until what’s truly at risk becomes clear. We wager that fears associated with risk are rarely about money or physical comforts, and more often about how we’ll be perceived by others.

Exposure is the engine of risk. Sometimes what’s revealed is dramatic and sweeping, and sets huge effects in motion. And sometimes, a risk is the choice to share your idea, to live for the moment, or to let someone see you cry…or fly.

Win or lose, taking a risk will show you more of what you’re made of.