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I knew I should have gotten gas before, but we were late.
Now, after the event… my gas tank is on empty and we’re in the middle of rural farmland.
The nearest gas station is 15 minutes away… and my 10 yr old son is clearly freaking out.
His eyes are wide, he has the GPS in his hand looking at it every 2 seconds.
“Are we going to make it?” he asks over and over.
I glance at my car’s gas gauge. It normally reads how many miles are left… now it’s blank. It’s a big unknown.
I’m slightly nervous, but I’m not scared.
“What’s the worst thing that can happen?” I asked.
The worst is we run out of gas.
But I have a phone that’s charged.
And AAA roadside assistance.
And people I could call.
If the gas station is 15 minutes away by car, it’s walkable.
Sure, it would be inconvenient.
And take more work.
But no one would be in danger.
It did not calm my son down.
He was not willing to think through the scenarios.
He just kept repeating the big “What if…???” in his head.
"Curiosity will conquer fear more than bravery will."
Without risk, there is no reward.
But we all know it to be true. If we play it safe, then we get what we know. What is ordinary. What is common. What is normal.
But if we want what is possible. What is new, extraordinary. If we want what is remarkable?
We need to risk. Because then, we’re don’t know how to get there. If we did, it wouldn’t be extraordinary.
And so we need to try some stuff out, where we won’t know what happens. Venture into the unknown.
But that’s scary. Our brain literally doesn’t like it. Our 40,000 year old brain is designed to keep us safe.
That’s the fear my son felt in the car.
So, if we need to risk, especially when we’re looking to lead or innovate… how do we deal with it?
Use a key tool… Curiosity.
Ask, “What is the worst thing that could happen?”
Now, most people stop there… my son did. The worst thing… We run out of gas! <panic!> AGH!
But it’s the curiosity of the next questions that actually help…
“If it does… What does that really mean? What can do you then?”
You use curiosity to understand that possible situation. You start to work out there is actually a way to move forward. Even in the worst scenario.
Most risks you take have a recoverable worst scenario.
And when you build out what you might do then… Your brain can literally “see” what you might do. All of a sudden, it seems reasonable and possible. It’s no longer an unknown.
Are you not taking action because of a fear you have?
If so… try this out.
Use curiosity to understand, what might happen – and what you could do about it.
And then… keep moving forward.
– Laura @ Mindtap
