Smart Living Rule 7 – Pursue Good Opportunities Fearlessly
Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit?
Living life to the fullest requires one to take risks. I believe you have to have an entrepreneurial spirit in order to seize every good opportunity that comes your way.
However, you also have to be very discerning because not every door that opens is one that you want to walk through. This is how people lose their shirts!
When your ship pulls up at your door, will you recognize it and get onboard fearlessly? This is smart living at its best!
What is an entrepreneurial spirit?
An entrepreneur is a person that:
- Sees opportunity where no one else can
- Takes risks where no one else will
- Experiences success where no one else does
Entrepreneurship is generally associated with business. An entrepreneurial spirit is an attitude that takes these same abilities and applies them more broadly in life.
It is about seeing the possibility for something great when everyone else is blinded by fear.
Having your eyes open in this way and creatively seeking new possibilities is an absolutely awesome way to live!
My smart living confession: I don’t like to take risks!
I have to admit that this is one of the rules that I still struggle with sometimes. I’m pretty conservative by nature and I have to really push myself to take big risks.
Despite this, I have ventured into starting my own business and have made several major life changes over the last couple of decades.
I am especially hesitant if the risk involves money or relationships. I don’t like to lose money and I can be fairly introverted around people I don’t know.
I realize my risk avoidance sometimes impedes my own smart living, but it is hard to overcome. I really have to force myself to step out of my comfort zone in these two areas.
Regarding money, I come up with business ideas, but then become hesitant to pursue them because of the initial investment that’s involved. I know that startups are risky and the thought of several thousand dollars evaporating before my eyes is quite honestly paralyzing at times. I hate to have to admit this, but it is true.
When it comes to socializing, networking and relationship building, I can be pretty timid in this area as well. I know that good opportunities often come as a result of who you know, but I hate to ask people for things. I don’t know if it is fear of rejection, lack of social confidence or something else, but it haunts me.
Of course, acknowledging my hesitancy in these areas helps because I know I have to take specific steps to pursue good opportunities when they arise. I’ve found the best way to overcome my limitations in this area is to just power my way through it.
I take risks in these areas despite my fear because I know it is a part of smart living!
How I evaluate risks to pursue good opportunities
Given my reluctance to take risks in certain areas, I have to have a good system for evaluating risks so I can decide when to really push myself.
Recognizing a good opportunity from a bad one is paramount to living life to the fullest.
Having a decision-making system for evaluating risk is priceless. It takes a lot of the emotion out of the process which helps me to control my fear.
Here are the steps that I go through to identify good opportunities:
1. I ask myself some tough questions about the opportunity
I have found these 10 questions to be very effective in helping me to sort out good opportunities from passing fads. They have saved me from going down what would have surely turned out to be some tragic mistakes.
2. I employ time-tested strategies for making the right decision
I use six strategies to help me make the right decision. This technique has proven effective in my personal and professional life. Using these same strategies for decision-making keeps things consistent and on an even keel.
3. I get the opinion of others that I trust
I always run ideas past my wife and others whose opinion I value and trust before I pursue a risky venture. I also ask myself what people like Dave Ramsey would do. This helps me collect valuable insights that I might have otherwise missed.
Once I’ve completed these three simple steps. I usually have a very clear picture of whether an opportunity is a good one or not. The trick then is to go with what I know is right!
Assignment: Develop an entrepreneurial spirit
Here is your homework to start putting this rule for smart living to work! These steps will help you to start exploring good opportunities as they arise.
- Pinpoint your reluctance – As I mentioned earlier, it is important to recognize what causes you to hesitate when good opportunities arise so you can devise strategies to overcome it. We can master our fear if we are aware of how it limits us. Read these articles to help become honest with yourself about your hesitancy.
Cure Your Fear To Get The Most Out of Life!
Five Great Ways to Conquer Your Fears
Inferiority Complex- Toss Out Feelings of Insignificance - Teach yourself to accept risk – Start small, but find some things that you consider to be risky and do them. Ask your boss for a raise or go on a spur of the moment vacation or start a blog! Facing the unknown is the beginning of developing an entrepreneurial spirit. Try this and you are likely to find a new sense of excitement and control in your life!
- Embrace the entrepreneurial spirit – Find someone with an entrepreneurial spirit to look up to and follow their lead. For me, having one or more role models is very helpful. It emboldens me and let’s me see that risk really does pay off!
Smart living means pursuing good opportunities fearlessly!
I’m not there yet, but I know that accepting risk and pursuing good opportunities is a powerful and essential part of smart living. It is one of the rules that I will continue to explore for myself.
What advice can you offer to help? Leave me a comment and let me know!
Follow this link to discover all the rules for Smart Living.
Photo by FreeWine
Really great, inspiring post! Just what I needed since I don’t always take advantage of all of the opportunities that come my way. I know this is because I’m afraid and your post has reminded me to be fearless!
I just attending a major fundraising event for a charity that my wife and I raise money for. I had felt way outclassed, which is why it was a risk for me to go. I don’t have near what the others had in terms of clout, money, or influence, yet we went anyway. It was so awesome! We felt so good about it afterward.
As the father of a girl with cystic fibrosis, I need to become better at taking risk…having this entrepreneurial spirit, in order to raise as much money as I can to find a cure. I’m looking forward to my next risk without as much anxiety as my last!
Dan´s last blog ..Cystic Fibrosis Gala–San Diego
As a life long entrepreneur i know exactly what you are trying to say with this article. Most people are to afraid to do ANYTHING and the other half expects something for nothing and everything on a plate straight away. The truth is that standing still is vastly more risky that taking your opportunities.
Faramarz – Anxious Candy´s last blog ..Hyperventilation and Successful Breathing
Nice post! A life of an entrepreneur is about taking risks. This reminds me of quote that Helen Keller once said:
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safe in the long run that outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”
Tristan Lee´s last blog ..A New Design
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