85 | [Rewind] Unpacking Uncertainty And Taking Risks

As we think about navigating risk and the distorted assessment that we have of what risk is in our lives and in our work in particular, I'm gonna share some stories of some conversations that I've had in the last couple of months where risk was this driving factor, and sort of getting beneath the distortions that are driving our sense of risk.

Like, right now it's, it's in the atmosphere, and I feel it, too, right? With [laughs] the climate in this country, literally the world, if we're honest, and feeling like everything is at risk, everything is at stake, everything feels very tight and risky because there's a lot of foolishness being driven by the actions of our government leaders.

Lord.

And so I know that that, on top of making decisions in your work and in your life that already felt risky, is just kind of piling on.

So I wanted to make sure that I talked about it here more directly on the podcast and hopefully provide y'all with a way forward, right? Y'all know how I do.

So let's get into it, okay? So let's talk about the things that are feeling risky, right? When we think about the risk that we take, and let me also couch this in specifically in, like, things like making big career pivot decisions, right? Uh, entertaining new directions in your life.

You know, contending with, like, very tough conversations or big decisions that you need to make even within your current role or business or, or whatever.

Those are the kinds of things that I'm talking about right now when it comes to uncertainty or risk-taking.

So what feels at risk when those kinds of things are up for us? I had a conversation, this is, like, another story I'm just gonna throw in there right now, a f- few months back with a woman who was brought to tears, like, really, was really, really activated by the thought of being able to pursue what she knows is her dream.

She has an entrepreneurial dream outside of her big corporate role.

She has a very senior position at a company that she's been at with for a while, and the idea of leaving is both exhilarating and absolutely horrifying for her.

Because for her, the risk is tied to breaking a poverty cycle in her family history.

She is like, "I have been the one to move the ball forward," to actually not even just move the ball forward, first of all, to get in the game, okay? And then second of all, to hit touchdown after touchdown after touchdown.

And so I think that when we consider being women of color, the majority of y'all I know listening, or just women who don't come from a long line of privilege in your family, that's a huge risk that gets tacked on to every decision that you make.

It feels, like, impossible to move when you have that riding on your back, when every decision you make carries that kind of a load, that kind of a burden, right? So there's a family legacy risk.

Then there's the risk of just, you know, I'm a woman.

Just let's just start there.

We don't even have to tack on the other identities.

I'm a woman, and I see the statistics, so me making moves, you know, into arenas where I'm already one of the only, if not the only, but I'm one of a few in my space at my level in this room.

And so making moves, everything feels very tight because it feels like there is very little room for me to make any errors.

The one little maybe token spot that might be made available to me that I can, you know, push and fight and obviously over-earn my way into, it feels very, very, very risky, and so that's something that's up for us, right? Then there's the risk of, you know, if you have children and you're thinking about the opportunities that you have currently secured for them, the opportunities that you want to provide for them, and things might be like, look, it's not exactly how I want things to be right now, but it's good enough.

It's actually been more than enough, so choosing this new direction, making this new decision, I don't wanna put their access, their opportunity at risk.

Like, it feels very scary for me to consider doing that, right? Risk also feels scary when it's just like, look, I've gotten used to certain creature comforts.

My lifestyle is life-styling, and [laughs] I don't want to go backwards.

And I'm not even just talking about I got Chanel bags and, you know, whatever, whatever.