"The only way to get what you're worth is to stand out, to exert emotional labor, to be seen as indispensable, and to produce interactions that organizations and people care deeply about." - Seth Godin, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
Have you ever walked cautiously along a trail following the guide, colored within the lines using only primary colors, or gone to the same restaurant to only order the same thing, never venturing to try something new or different? Playing it safe is something we have all done. The problem comes in when we become conditioned to avoid risks. I believe that we were born risk-takers. Most toddlers, when learning to walk, never consider that they may fall. Nor do they think "falling" to be a negative thing.
Seth Godin, in his book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable, that we are bullied or frightened into playing it safe. He suggests our Lizard Brain takes over when conditioned to playing it safe. Lizard Brain stops you from taking a risk because of what you believe others may think or even pain you may have experienced. You may perceive the opinions to be real or the pain to be ongoing. Therefore, it is now a viable threat to your imagination, creativity, life force, and growth potential. Like most lizards, when threatened, we run and hide or camouflage ourselves with our surroundings to attempt to go unnoticed. Sometimes we go further and sabotage our successes only to conceal the greatness within us…just in case it isn't confirmed by someone else.
Today, be intentional and silence the lizard brain. Take one small "risk."
Godin, Seth. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?: How to Drive Your Career and Create a Remarkable Future. London: Piatkus, 2018. Print.