“A ship is always safe at the shore – but that is NOT what it is built for.”
-Albert Einstein

Excellence demands that you leave your comfort zone and take action on your dreams and goals, action which will cause feelings of fear, doubt and worry. This is a sign that you are taking risks and moving in the right direction. No great discoveries, inventions or quantum leaps were ever made while sitting idle sheltered from possible failure, discontent or pain. The courage to risk what you have for the potential of gaining more is a foundational element to achieving excellence.

The richness you can experience in life is entirely dependent on your willingness to dare, to risk potential sacrifice and forge on through the mire of fear, doubt and worry; those three ‘dark negotiators’ born of your inherited and limiting beliefs designed to cause hesitation and delay your progress towards a happier, healthier and wealthier life. Those ‘dark negotiators’ are constructed in your mind and not based in reality. They are imaginary and their influence on you and your direction are determined by your belief system, your level of commitment and your willingness to abandon those limiting beliefs.

You must become willing to risk, willing to sacrifice what seems gainful at the moment for the potential of achieving greater gains. If you aren’t willing to sacrifice those things in your immediate life than you are taking an even greater risk; you risk achieving less than you are capable of. Not to suggest recklessness in your personal and professional life, we are suggesting ‘Effective Risk Management’. We’ve previously discussed how to manage fear, how to develop character and other traits that are incredibly useful in the process of Risk Management. We would like to share a set of tips and tools you can use when you’ve identified certain actions as ‘risks’;
1. Decide your Desire is Greater than your Fear: Whatever endeavor that you are embarking upon, was it not a step in an action plan designed to achieve your goals? Was it not a desire born of a dream? Make the committed decision that your desire is greater than your fear, for this is the birthplace of courage.
2. Decide to Enjoy the Process: Risks are daring and perhaps even dangerous. There is natural exhiliration possible when stepping into the unknown and into the line of fire. Decide to replace possible feelings of fear, doubt or worry with this rush of excitement, sense of wonder and exploration.
3. Decide on the Final Boundaries: Again, we are not suggesting recklessness here. To prevent truly endangering yourself or others you must define definite boundaries, boundaries that aren’t limits born of old paradigms and conditioning. Push your limits to the point where you question what you may actually lose in the process and weigh out whether or not you are afraid simply because you are outside of your comfort zone or if you are afraid because the risk will actually cause irrepairable harm. Most times, the former is true. We urge you to be very clinical and honest during this step; be very courageous and daring while weighing out the potential ‘negative’ results and whether or not these possibilities are acceptable and worth the risk.
4. Design a Time line: Whether you use performance based markers, time goals or financial signs, design a series of landmarks by which you will gauge yourself and your progress. This is important in managing the potential onset of fear, doubt or worry in the midst of the process.
5. Full, 100% Commitment and Immediate Action: Once you have defined new and clear boundaries you are prepared. You must decide that you are 100% committed to the choice regardless of failure and take massive and immediate action. Half measures avail us nothing! Be fully committed to the choice and the potential of taking a vital step towards achieving your goal. This commitment requires a 100% willingness to fail and to ignore or deflect any nay-sayers or negative perspectives. You’ve put it on the line, now it is time to do it!
By implementing these tools in your Risk Management process you will see a great shift. We hope to have helped in shifting paradigms, adapting your perspective and taking risks!!

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We have a burning desire to accelerate your performance and drive you into a higher level of happiness, prosperity and growth.

Create some Fire and Pass the Torch,

The Kanary Team
http://www.johnkanary.com