Shortening The Leap Of Faith
Taking risks can be scary.
What if you fail? What will others think? What will the financial implications be? What if you never recover from the disappointment? What if…
But what if you succeed?
Really, what if you succeed? What lies on the other side of a risk could be a life you never dreamt possible, or better yet, the life you want so badly but are afraid to pursue.
The Unknown
Part of the fear keeping people from taking on risk is the unknown. With every decision there will be unknown variables, but through planning you can identify many of the variables involved in the decision, address them, and reduce the amount of risk to be taken.
Think of the risk you are considering as a leap of faith—you’re trying to jump from one cliff to another. Without any planning, the distance between the two cliffs is so great that the likelihood of you making it across to the other side is very low. But with planning, as you identify the variables in the decision and plan for them, you magically begin to pull the two cliffs closer together making the distance between them manageable and greatly increasing the chances of success.
Your leap of faith becomes much shorter, less scary, and the likelihood of success goes up.
Real Life Example
Recently, I had a conversation with an RLS Wealth client about an opportunity, aka a risk, that has the potential to drastically change her life—financially, emotionally, and in her happiness. On the surface, it seems like too great of a risk to take; she’ll be walking away from a six-figure income and taking a 40% pay cut 😳. Despite the reduction income, her monthly budget will only be impacted by a couple hundred dollars each month—she’ll be moving from a high priced city to the Midwest where real estate is more affordable. The reduction in income is offset by the reduction in her rent. She won’t even miss the “lost” income.
Variable one (possibly the scariest) addressed and it wasn’t near as drastic as it initially seemed.
We quickly moved on to other variables impacted by the decision and these all proved to be easy to address. Her current job was not one she enjoys—it lacks the fulfillment and excitement her new opportunity will provide her. Her current city is not one she enjoys living in and the quarantine from COVID-19 has not helped the situation. Her new city is closer to family, close friends live there, and as we discussed earlier, is more affordable. There are more variables that we discussed and as discussed each, the two sides of the cliffs kept getting closer.
Now, just because we shortened the distance for her “leap of faith” there is no guarantee everything will goes as planned. It’s still possible the new opportunity does not work out, but we’ve already discussed a Plan B. Worst case scenario is she goes back to a similar job that she is leaving, but in a city that she’ll at least enjoy living in—the consolation prize is she gets to avoid having regrets and wondering “what-if”. Best case scenario is she gets to do what she loves, help build a new business, see financial reward for her risk, and live a fulfilled and happy life.
Well worth the risk, if you ask me.
Shorten The Leap Of Faith
Life is meant to be lived. It’s meant to experience. It’s meant to take risks. Some risks are not worth taking, but some can help create the life you want—the life you deserve. Evaluate the risks of the important decisions in your life, build a plan to address the variables, be honest with possible outcomes and how you’ll handle them, and crunch the numbers.
Bring the two cliffs closer together, make the leap less scary, and give yourself the best chance for success.
You deserve it!
— Justin
Disclaimer: Nothing on this blog should be considered advice, or recommendations. If you have questions pertaining to your individual situation you should consult your financial advisor. For all of the disclaimers, please see my disclaimers page.