How to Avoid Taking a Risk

Taking a risk can be a scary thing because it means moving out of your comfort zone. Trouble is, growth doesn’t happen until you take that step out of the familiar and into the unknown. But for those who want to be sure to avoid the risks, I found a checklist for you:

1. Never, ever examine yourself.
2. Never hang around with smart people. Turn down invitations to associate with people who have broad intellectual or artistic interests.
3. Do not change. Ever.
4. Nurture a mind-set that labels creative people “flakes.”
5. Keep your life very structured. Kill new ideas immediately and tell yourself things like: “It’ll never work,” “It costs too much,” “It’s been tried before,” or “If it was any good, someone else would have done it.”
6. Force everyone around you to accept your situation. Never tolerate any suggestion that implies that your way may be wrong.
7. Make your plans and goals as vague as possible. Never let anyone know what your “real” plans are, and never change your plans.
8. Never offer encouragement or compliments to anyone.
9. Never allow people to have fun in your presence. Keep things serious.
10. Do not be accessible to your family and friends. Always keep to yourself.
11. If someone offers an idea, tell them it’s dumb. If they prove it’s not dumb, tell them it can’t work. If they prove it can work, tell them it’s dangerous. Or make up something else.
12. If someone wants to try something new, remind them of all their past failures and mistakes.
13. Always be preoccupied with your problems.
14. Never allow yourself to follow intuitions, gut feelings, or hunches.
15. If you absolutely must accept a creative idea, don’t say anything whatsoever to its creator. It might go to their head.
16. Play it safe. When you play not to lose, you don’t have to worry about taking risks, innovating or confronting challenges.

I know this list is a little extreme, but it makes a point, right?

Your growth is dependent on taking a risk. It’s called faith. Faith in the Father who created you and knows you better than you know yourself. Faith in the God of the universe who never leaves you or lets you fall. Faith in the One who wants so much more for you than you can imagine.

Time to step out. Take a risk.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:6 (NKJV)