Advances in brain imaging technology have enabled neuroscientists to prove that we are hard-wired to overestimate the size of risks and underestimate our ability to handle them.

The result?

Our choices are often driven more by a fear of what we don’t want, than a commitment to what we do want. And if our lives are the sum of all of our choices, it soon becomes easy to see how playing it safe can become a modus operandi.

Seth Godin, in his popular blog, said this:

You will be judged (or you will be ignored). Those are pretty much the only two choices. Being judged is uncomfortable…..The alternative, of course, is much safer. To be ignored. Up to you.

No one likes to be misunderstood or rejected.   We don’t step out or stick our neck out because we’re afraid. Yet, the alternative may mean that we don’t get to live out our sense of call, courageously being true to who we are and what we want to bring to the world. And we miss the blessing of the joy and fruit that comes from that.

You Get To Choose Your Risk

Every time I write something and post it publicly, I am acutely aware of the two ends of the spectrum- judged or ignored.  What if people don’t like what I write?  What will they think? What if I’m misunderstood? Will people think less of me?  It would be much easier and safer to just keep writing in my journal, as I have done for years. There, no one else sees what I write. There’s no risk of rejection or being misunderstood or judged. Journal writing was safe.  Writing here is not safe.

Yet, not to write, or to step out in some way, is to be ignored for having done nothing to be judged for. Safe.  I get to choose.  So do you.

Either way, there’s a risk.  To step out, you risk being judged.  To play it safe, you risk not making a difference in the world.

The Resistance Is Real

Steven Pressfield, in the War of Art*, calls this battle within resistance.  Everyone who has ever stepped out towards a better future has experienced it.  Some learn to act in spite of the resistance and do extraordinary things, and some let the resistance decide whether they ever act or not.  And if resistance has its way, there will be no action.

You and I are created for more.  Don’t play it safe.  Take risks for all the right reasons. Yes, you will likely be misunderstood, judged, and even rejected.  But in the end, it’s a better alternative to playing it safe and not step out courageously to pursue your calling, passions, and dreams. Acting, in spite of the resistance, can lead to new and exciting places of fruitfulness, joy, and growth.

What, for you, takes a determined will to do even at the risk of being misunderstood, judged or rejected?  I would love to hear!

(*  The War of Art is one of my all-time favorite books.  It’s a must-read for anyone who has something they want to do on their heart).