Why you shouldn’t look before you leap is because the more you look the less you leap!
Who else remembers this road safety rule we were taught as kids – “before crossing, look left, look right, and look left again”?
You remember right? Well, some of us took those lessons too far, lol.
We would look left, look right, look left, look right, and keep looking left and right, without crossing . . . until an older person came to our rescue.
I have this funny habit of double-checking the door lock after I’ve locked the door.
I would turn the door handle repeatedly, to confirm that I’ve locked it, before heading downstairs.
Sometimes, when I’m halfway down the stairs or even at the end of the stairs, I would go back to check if I really locked the door . . . sigh!
Sadly, it’s the same at bedtime, before I eventually doze off, I would get up repeatedly to check if I really locked the door.
Frustrating, right? But then, I would console myself that I was “better safe than sorry” . . . lol!
Everyone loves to play safe.
In fact, our brains are wired to help us make safe choices.
So, it’s instinctive for us to protect ourselves whenever we sense danger
It’s the same way, we are advised to look before we leap.
But unfortunately, many of us look so much, that . . .
. . . we start to doubt our ideas and seek external validation.
. . . we feel we are inadequate and then chicken out in fear.
. . . we get overwhelmed by our audacious ideas and start to develop plan B in case plan A fails.
. . . we develop cold feet and settle for the seemingly safest options because we can’t kill ourselves.
We poke and probe for loopholes till the information we have overwhelms and paralyzes us into lethargy.
Even when we eventually leap, we leap wrong, because anxiety blinded our sense of judgment and we focused on the downsides of our choices without considering the possibilities in the big picture.
At other times, out of fear, we settle for unpleasant certainties over pleasant uncertainties.
And while I agree that we generally seek options so that we can play safe, at what point do we realize that playing safe sometimes leads us to play small?
How often do our safe choices turn out as smart choices?
For how long will we continue to overanalyze things and second-guess ourselves till opportunities pass us by?
When do we admit that ‘better safe than sorry’ might be causing us more harm than good?
You might have heard the popular saying, ‘no risk, no reward’.
As cliché as it sounds, it is true – ‘the higher the risk, the higher the possible return’.
And while I understand that ‘playing safe’ could mean being cautious, let us also be aware that ‘playing safe’ could result in a state of complacency, settling for less when one can be more.
While you carefully evaluate your decisions, count the cost, but do not let the cost intimidate you into settling for less.
Decide to face your fears.
Identify people who model the success that you desire and learn from them.
Collaborate with people who are doing well and resist the urge to compare your success with theirs.
Upskill, learn the ropes, and do not hold back for fear of failure.
Develop yourself, own your process, and build your self-confidence.
Master your process and teach others that success is possible.
Above all, trust God to help you because He will, as long as you let Him.
