DON'T JUST SIT THERE! TAKE A RISK! Right now you're sitting there, writing the story of your life. Are you writing yourself in as a flopping bowl of Jello, letting the world dictate how your story is going to go, or are you writing yourself in as the hero who overcomes all the obstacles to win freedom, fortune and fun? The choice is up to you. You are holding the pen. The ability to take risks is the biggest difference between the person who is building all life full of passionate experiences, and the person who is reliving the same dull memories day after day. Look at your life up until now. What stands out? It's not the times you played it safe doing just what was expected. No! It's the times when you took a risk. Why not start making some of those memories today? It's easy. All you have to do is force yourself to take those first scary, uncomfortable steps. No matter what kind of risk you want to take -- whether it's starting up an exercise program or quitting your job and moving to Tahiti -- the hardest part is getting yourself going. It's much easier to come up with a couple of good excuses for why you shouldn't start today. Excuse #1: "I'm too busy now!" ------------------------------- What a beautiful excuse. One size fits all. It doesn't matter what you want to do, you just don't have the time right now. But when are you going to ever have more time? You will only have less. Every day gone, is gone forever. Waiting for free time is like waiting for an empty spot to open up in the middle of your bathwater before you climb in! It's not going to ever happen! If you want to start something new, just start doing it! Then let your less important activities naturally spill out of the tub. Excuse #2: "There's something in my way!" ------------------------------------------ Another internationally famous excuse widely accepted in over 10 million situations. If you're married you can blame it on your mate for taking up all of your free time. If you're single you can blame it on not having enough love and support. If you have a job you can say "I'm too busy now, if only I worked for myself then I'd have more time." If you work for yourself you can say "I'm too busy trying to make ends meet, if I had a 9 to 5 job, I'd have more time." If you don't have a lot of money, you can say "If only I were rich, I'd take more chances." If you are rich, you can say "If only I didn't have so much to lose, I'd take more chances." There are a million "if only's." If you think you'll start writing a book when you quit your job, that's just an excuse. Because when you when you quit your job, you'll be too busy worrying about something else! The right time to start writing a book is today. Just take 30 minutes to write the first page. Excuse #3: I'm not in the mood right now! ------------------------------------------ Do you feel too tired, lazy or depressed to start something new? Nothing will make you feel better faster than starting on something that has meaning to you. Inaction just breeds more apathy. The we way to break out of the cycle is to take the first step. Even if that means forcing yourself to make a phone call, join a club, or get some exercise -- you will have much more energy once you get going. Excuse #4: I'm afraid I'll fail! --------------------------------- You're not the first. Look at almost every successful person, and you'll find a history riddled with failure right up until the day they struck gold. Suddenly that's all everyone sees! But failure was their path to success. If you're not making any mistakes then you probably aren't growing very much. Mistakes are not your enemy. Apathy is. When you make mistakes you learn that you will always survive them. And once you realize that it's okay to blow it, you stop putting your life on hold, waiting endlessly for the perfect time to take a risk. You learn how easy it is to grab hold of your life just as it is, and make it work for you. Excuse #5: I don't know where to begin! ---------------------------------------- If you're afraid to try something new because you don't know enough about it, just begin anywhere. Do something -- anything! You'll find out soon enough if you're headed in the right direction. All you need to get started is to reach out just a little bit. If you stand there looking down at the pond and never lower your bait because you don't see any fish, you're never going to catch anything! You need to lower your bait into the water and then the answers will come. Make a phone call, buy a book, enroll in a class, just break your deadlock. The path will be revealed as you travel down it. Excuse #6: I don't know which path to take! -------------------------------------------- Should you become a novelist or a chiropractor? Should you save for a house or a vacation? Just start moving down either path. Take a small step and check out the view from there. Any path. Take a small step and check out the view from there. Any path you take is far better than standing in the middle of the road wasting your life away! And don't spend a lot of energy worrying that you might have chosen the wrong path. What's ten times more important is taking whatever decision you make, and making on you make, and making it work for you. What risks would you like to take? What excuses are holding you back? Are you wasting more time and effort making excuses, than if you just went ahead and did the thing you really wanted? Every week you put off your dreams is a week you will never be able to enjoy them. We are often like tremendous rockets of potential, stuck on the launch pad, waiting endlessly for enough fuel for lift off. But the thing is, you don't need that much fuel! All you need is just a couple of drops to take the first small step. From there, you start generating your own fuel. Then, with each sequential move you gain momentum and it gets easier and easier to reach your destination. Our world is in desperate need of more people who have discovered their unique talents, and then go out and share them with others. Every untapped talent is a gift wasted forever. Where are your talents? Are they lying unused? If so, then this is where you should be taking your risks. Tapping into your potential is the most fulfilling risk you can ever take. Don't waste your time taking foolish risks that just impress other people. Take the risks that will bring you (and the world) the greatest gain. Let no excuse stand in your way. Stop waiting for your circumstances to change; it's up to you to change your circumstances You are writing your life story each passing day. Do you secretly know that you could be doing better? Look at the blank pages that lie ahead. Are you going to write a brilliant story to share with the world, or are you going to fill it with empty words that will soon be forgotten? It's up to you, this is your story. What risks are you going to take? By Joan Gale Frank ==================================================================== This article is copyright 1993 by Joan Gale Frank and contains excerpts from INSTANT GUTS! a 70 Minute audio tape produced by Big Mouth Publications. For more information on INSTANT GUTS! or to order copies, write to Big Mouth Publications, 4104 24th Street, #380, San Francisco, CA 94114., or call (415) 826-4703. Copies of this tape can be obtained for $10.95 UNICOM Information Services.