1. Routinely Review Your Circle of Control to Help You Plan What Risks to Take
In his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey explained how our point of greatest effectiveness will be when we are operating from our sphere of direct control. When we dedicate our energy and attention to trying to change things that aren’t in that sphere, we experience discomfort and pain we may not be equipped to manage. We can also become vulnerable to a far longer recovery process as a result.
The inner-most circle is the circle of control. It represents what you have direct and ultimate jurisdiction over:
- Your thoughts
- Your choices
- Your decisions
- Your behavior and actions
- Your mood
- Your mental state
- Your responses and reactions
- Your mental, emotional and physical states
The second outer circle – the circle of influence – represents exactly that; what you influence. You don’t have direct control over the following, but how you operate from your own circle of control can have ripple effects on people and situations around you:
- Your relationships, your children’s happiness, safety and wellbeing
- How others respond to you, how they perceive you
- Your work productivity, whether you get promoted or not
- Who follows you on social media
- Who you vote for
- Your development of skills, improvement of competency
- The success of your business
The outermost circle represents the ‘circle of concern’. These are situations and relationships for which you hold in your mind and heart as important. They are things you often have little control and influence over, however, they impact you:
- Systems and institutions (e.g. your employer, governments)
- Environmental issues
- The economy
- Natural events and disasters
If you don’t naturally self-identify as a risk-taker, start by taking risks where you have the highest level of control. You are more likely to succeed, increase your ability to assess, plan and executing taking risks. This in turn fuels your motivation and readiness to take risks and chances in the future.
How much can you truly control and/or influence when addressing how you are being bullied at work? Look at the different aspects of your situation and see which circle each aspect resides in. Referring to Covey’s concentric model can help you determine what risks are in front of you and which ones are better for you to take.
2. Adopt a Gamified Perspective to Increase Risk-Taking and Make It More Fun
The mental and emotional pressure we put on ourselves to achieve certain outcomes inflates our perception of risk consequences. We can often feel the stakes are higher. However, what if you applied a different set of expectant outcomes when you are in risk-taking situations?
Gamification has become a more widely used approach in a variety of settings where growth and improvement in performance are desired or required. The application of game dynamics, mechanics and frameworks into non-game settings has demonstrated effectiveness in encouraging risk-taking behavior along with changed perceptions toward the meaning and experience of risk-taking itself.
When researcher Itamar Shatz reviewed the risk-taking behavior of participants learning a foreign language, he found gamification methods increased their risk-taking behavior as well as their performance and self-confidence.[1]
Similar research was undertaken by Ignacio Garcia exploring the effectiveness of popular language-learning application Duolingo identified that using gamification approaches enhanced users’ learning.[2]Learners are driven to advance to higher levels by being awarded points for providing correct answers and being given a couple of opportunities to attempt each question. They feel freer to fail.
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When considering risks you might take, ask yourself: Is there a way I can gamify this? If I am feeling high pressure and angst about this risk, how can I inject more fun into the process of taking the risk? Could you engage others to also engage in this risk-taking activity with you? Can you create your own reward system of celebrating your taking chances in the first place?
Reward yourself and celebrate your experiences of taking risks regardless of whether you achieve your main goal. You develop a different emotional attachment to risk-taking exercises and increase your confidence to take more chances in your life.