I was talking with a client recently and they were explaining to me that company they work for is going through a merger and they are thinking about what they will do for employment if they don’t secure a position in the new structure and felt a little anxious and concerned.

The client is extremely talented, good at their job, well respected by their colleagues. They have worked for the same organisation for over 20 years. They are certainly someone that the organisation would wish to retain as they are one of their top performers.

I asked if they had been given an indication that they would not be retaining their job. They said that wasn’t the case, the organisation had said they were looking to ensure there was a position for them moving forward. I asked why they were feeling the way that they do.

They explained that part of them is thinking that this could be a great opportunity to start their own business and have a fresh challenge. However, they are not sure that they have the necessary confidence and courage to do so.

They told me that the truth was that having worked for the same company for so long, their brain was telling them that they would not be able do anything else if they lost their job. They are scared of the uncertainty and the unknown. They are frightened of having to step of their comfort zone and of what is familiar although the chance to be their own boss and master of their destiny is appealing to them. There are certainly two forces pulling them in different directions at present

Many people adopt a similar stance about their potential and capability when faced with similar circumstances to what is described above. As Dale Carnegie explained in his book, “How to win friends and Influence people”, most people have no idea what treasure lies within them. Sometimes the biggest limits we have are the ones that we have in our own minds.

I mentioned to the client the story I was told once about the way that baby elephants are trained. Control is established while the elephant is very small. A chain is placed around the baby elephant’s leg and attached to a three foot iron stake which is driven into the ground. Therefore for several days the baby elephant pulls and tugs and strains against the stake and the chain… but he is too small to dislodge it.

Soon he is convinced, by this experience, that the three foot stake and chain have the power to bind him. He no longer attempts to pull free. Years later, when the elephant is fully grown — weighing thousands of pounds— capable of uprooting trees or pulling a car, he can still be held by a three foot stake! Yet, if that stake were as big and planted as deep as a telephone pole, he could easily uproot it!

How does the stake and chain hold the elephant? Control and conditioning. I think sometimes our lives reflect the story of the elephant. We get so conditioned to a certain way of life and thinking that we believe that we are not capable of doing anything new.

I can empathise with the client as I felt much the same way prior to leaving the corporate world in December 2000. Coincidentally, last week was the 14th anniversary of me starting my business and completing my first paid assignment.

It was my choice to take a leap of faith and leave as I had not been made redundant. Accordingly, I did not have a lump sum payment behind me and I was not under any pressure to find a new job. However, I had a desire to work for myself and to test myself.

That said, it was not an easy decision to make to give up on what was known and relatively safe to step into a whole new arena. I had to overcome the inner voice that said that it was too risky and the feeling that I could not do anything else having worked for only one employer for almost 20 years.

The way that I got comfortable with the risk was to ask myself a question that I always ask when I am contemplating change or taking a risk.

The question is “What is the worst thing that can happen?”

If I am able to get comfortable with the consequences detailed in my answer to the question, it helps me step into the unknown and take a leap of faith. It gives me the courage and strength to take that first step.

Over the Christmas period, why not take some time to think about if there is something that you would like to do or is there is a dream locked inside you? Ask yourself the question, what would you do today if you were really brave?

This week’s quotation:

I came across the following when I was sorting through some old papers in my office this week. It was written by William Arthur Ward.

To Risk

“To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out to another is to risk involvement,

To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return,

To live is to risk dying,

To hope is to risk despair,

To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow,

But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.

Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.

Only a person who risks is free.

The pessimist complains about the wind;

The optimist expects it to change;

And the realist adjusts the sails.”

take_risks

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