What's the worst thing that could happen?
To take a risk or not take a risk?
We make decisions that involve various levels of risk all the time. In fact, no decision is 100% without uncertainty.
Should I start a side hustle?
Should I start a personal brand?
Should I look for a new job?
Should I accept money from this investor?
Should I sell my company?
Should I? Should I? Should I?
It’s easy to get caught up in analysis paralysis or overthink until you make no decision at all.
Ultimately, any decision is better than no decision. Every risk you take isn’t going to pan out. That’s life.
One of the biggest decisions I ever made was to quit my full-time job a few months after I started Accelity.
We weren’t exactly rolling in cash.
I was at that weird point of building a side hustle where I couldn’t replace my income yet, but I was working enough hours that I also couldn’t perform at my job and be a good mother at the same time.
What’s a girl to do?
To me, the upside of starting a business is endless.
And the downside, I came to understand, was something I was willing to deal with.
I started asking myself: what’s the worst thing that could happen?
What if I don’t have enough business? I’ll bartend, waitress, or find some way to make money. This one came true quickly—just a few weeks after I quit my job, my largest client brought the work I was doing in house. Cooooool.
What if I don’t have enough money to support my lifestyle? I was already aggressively paying off my student loans at the time, and had some strategies in mind to save money, like buying a cheap rental property, and practicing no-spend months. I was confident that I could get my expenses down far enough to keep going.
What if my company goes under? This was a tough one to grapple with. I figured that my mom would probably let us move in for a while if we lost our house. I knew that we could potentially file bankruptcy, which would suck but we would get through it.
Thanks to my accidental early career as a recruiter, I knew how to get an interview and perform at one. I was employable. I would get by.
I looked at all of these scenarios and thought, “I can handle that. My family can handle that.”
I knew we could survive anything.
And I hoped we would thrive.
Clearly, there’s a lot to think about every time you take a risk.
Next time, add the question “what’s the worst thing that could happen?” to your list of considerations and see what happens.
I’ll end this post with my favorite quote from my favorite musical, RENT:
Forget regret, or life is yours to miss
No other path, no other way
No day but today
Chase your dreams today, my friends! ❤️
#motivation #careers #entrepreneur