How many people have looked into a goal and immediately started thinking of all the things that could go wrong. “I hate my job and want to quit, but I can’t afford to not have a steady income.” Maybe you’ve said “I would love to introduce myself to that attractive person, but they’ll probably just turn me away.” When you say “but,” your brain is literally coming up with reason not to take a risk.

The Brain is Hard Wired to Fear Risk.

You may be amazed to learn that you doing this isn’t necessarily a lack of confidence. This is actually an evolutionary response built into the human brain. See, back in the hunter gatherer days, you may see a bush with berries on it and want to approach some food. However, the human brain has learned to think “what if there’s a bear in the bush” and weigh that option. We naturally come up with highly unlikely scenarios in order to protect ourselves and we put more weight into the highly unlikely outcome with the terrible consequence than we do the more likely safer option.

The ‘Worst Case Scenario’ is also the Least Likely Outcome.

In ‘The Four Hour Work Week’ Tim Ferris tells a story about going on a vacation and the worry about his business falling apart. He’s convinced that without him there, he’ll lose out on opportunity, sales, and profit. The chapter goes on to list all the possible things that could go wrong while he’s gone. In reality though, nothing listed can’t be recovered from and all the items are highly unlikely.

Just as it’s pretty unlikely that a bear has sneaked into the bush behind you, but it’s a natural response to think that – even if it is a grossly over exaggerated point. Our brain is responding in a ‘fight or flight’ manner when you get nervous opening up conversations with new people. Tim Ferris calls this the Power of Pessimism, and psychologically, it’s real.

This Response can be Minimized.

To some, that comes naturally. Camelia Kuhnen at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management researched the activity inside the brain while people were presented stock trades. The research showed that there are individuals who are natural risk takers. Different areas of the brain light up in an fMRI for some individuals in high risk circumstances. Some individuals were better able to read the situation and react to the social cues of others. This tells us that it is possible to train yourself to get over the evolutionary response to risk.

Part of learning self-discipline is learning to take risks and weigh the rewards. It’s important to step back and think logically. Remember, every decision either takes us closer to our goals or farther away. Taking a risk is the first step towards most of our goals. Whether it’s as large as setting up a business or as quick as starting a conversation, you can proceed knowing that the worst case scenario is not only highly unlikely, but perfectly natural to think of.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post!

– Tim

Photo Credit: Paxson Woebler; PatrickLim1996; Kasia