My Fifth Entry - Managing Risk

Assessing and successfully managing personal and professional risk is a way to understand a healthy life. Christopher Columbus had to decide to let go of the dock before he could search for a new route to India. He assessed the risk, made a mistake and still changed the world. Sometimes we live in fear of risk and change. Some of us want a guarantee of success before we take a risk.

Don’t we wish that we could predict the future? ... “And next week’s lottery numbers are...”

However, we can’t foretell the future so we’re forced to weigh our options and make the best decisions we can. This is true for dating, taking a new job, buying a car or any of the thousands of choices we make in a year. Consider exactly what calculated risks are! They are decisions we make based on who we are, our skills, research, timing and the needs of others that we care about.

The more you review (to a point) the better chance you have of making a decision that you can live with. However, if you over-assess a situation, you could get stuck in a ‘Paralysis of Analysis’. This is where you get trapped in the decision process with no resolution, no exit and no chance for success.

If, on the other hand, you take the path of least resistance, try to always please someone else, or let others make the decisions for you, you can render yourself becoming powerless, resentful, and with reduced self-esteem.
What steps can you take that will give you the best chance of making the best decisions possible? Consider this 8 step decision making process.

1. Analyze the opportunity – define it, research it, consider its possible choices and assess the reasonable

options
2. Choose one decision you could make
3. Write possible ways you can implement your decision
4. Choose and implementation strategies
5. Practice with a friend or family member
6. Implement your decision
7. Evaluate your success and failure
8. Use the new information to continue to make the best decisions you can make

If you want, pick an opportunity for personal change and use the strategies above.

Today’s Truth: Any quantity of alcohol or drugs will affect your judgment. One way to improve your ability to predict good decisions is to limit your substance use. With prescription medication that are design to modify your mood, thoughts or feelings, work closely with your MD to avoid problems. Question what is being prescribed and develop a rapport with him/her to increase your chances of having a clinical partnership that will benefit you.