Risk. Reinvent. Repeat.

Summer is over. School and work are back in session. Maybe you’ve been slowing down or even gotten completely stuck.   Don’t beat up on yourself, it’s all part of the human condition.
The first step is to determine where you’re stuck so you can begin getting unstuck.  Take a look at the list below and see if you can pinpoint your stuck spot.

But first, why not sign up for my newsletter over on the top right-hand column and get access to my full library of “Capture the Mindshare” resources?  I promise that you’ll get plenty of tips and tools you can use and I’ll never inundate you, share your email or spam you.

• You know what changes you need to make but you’re not making them
• You know what you want but you have no idea how to get there
• When you think about change, you feel totally overwhelmed
• Your life is basically good, but there’s one area that you keep avoiding
• You are living other people’s ideas about who you are and ignoring your own
• You’re willing to change everything about your life except the one thing you know will actually make a real difference
• You’ve lost a job, a loved one or a nest egg and it’s got you totally shut down
• You feel like you’re missing out on something and if you don’t go after it now, you may regret it forever

I know a lot about being stuck.  I had been stuck in a family plagued by alcoholism and mental illness, in an overweight and out-of-shape body, in a marriage that wasn’t right for me, and in a career that I’d outgrown.  At age 47,  when some people are slowing down, I decided it was high time to reinvent my personal and professional life.  I started my first business, published my first book, lost 25 pounds and became newly single.  I learned that if you want to reinvent, you’ve got to take a risk. And then keep on taking them for the rest of your life!

Often the hardest part of reinvention, which is really more about re-claiming your gifts and dreams than truly re-inventing, is to create some new risk-taking habits.  As you begin to take increasingly bold risks, you’ll begin to build confidence and competence.  Pretty soon those baby steps will become grand leaps that will get you where you want to go with ever-greater ease.  Start small and keep making those incremental changes.

To help get you started, here are my 5 Top Tips for Risk-Taking Success:

1.      Challenge the “INR.”  The Immediate Negative Response, or INR, is that knee-jerk resistance to change which causes us to freeze, retreat or disengage from an impending risk, even when we expect the results to be positive.

2.     Counteract “Riskophobia” with relaxation.  Asking the boss for a raise, going on a blind date, or interviewing for a job can stir up anxiety.  Overcome fear of risk-taking, what I call Riskophobia, with a regular practice of deep relaxation, including breathing, meditation or visualization so you can picture that job interview from “Hello” to “You’re hired.”

3.     Resist the slippery slope of excuse-making.  Even if the excuses are true – “I’m too old,” “I’m too poor,” or “I don’t have enough time” – find ways to transcend excuses and start taking action.

4.     Assess your “Advance or Avoid” behavior patterns.  Become a student of your own risk-taking patterns.  Are there some risks toward which you easily “advance”?  Others that you’d rather “avoid”?  As you become more aware, begin to build your risk-taking repertoire by trying bold, new risks that will advance your goals.

5.   Steer clear of “Limiters” and embrace “Liberators.”  It’s been said, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”What kind of company have you been keeping?  Maybe it’s time to mix it up a bit. Watch out for the Limiters who, unwittingly or not, may limit you because of their own fears and jealousies.Instead,surround yourself with Liberators who often have more faith in your ability to reinvent than you do yourself!

Remember to keep practicing the 3R’s:  Risk. Reinvent. Repeat!

For your very next risk, sign up for my newsletter over on the top right column and build your risk-taking repertoire with the tips and tools necessary to Capture the Mindshare that I’ll be sending you every single month.