Pursuing Fearlessness
[Music]
as a child
what were your hopes your dreams
your aspirations how did you imagine
your world
scoring weekly hat tricks for your
favorite team
serving justice to the oppressed
bringing
comfort to the sick how did you
picture success
i remember being asked in my french
speaking exam what i wanted to do in
life and i said
i don’t know but i want to make a
difference
except i said it in french and here i am
today
not a famous footballer or a sage
judge or a compassionate nurse
but an insurance broker yes
an insurance broker with images of the
spineless lester nygard the banal truman
burbank
mr incredible sitting tired and dejected
at the desk of his
callous and swedi insurance corporation
you might wonder what i have to share
with you
about living a life of impact and joy
and yet my unexpected journey from
burned-out teacher to child minder to
rising star
insurance has taught me a lot switching
fear disappointment frustration despair
with joy confidence fulfillment and
impact
my career in insurance has taught me a
lot about
making decisions assessing risks
and reframing challenges as
opportunities
every day i meet with really engaging
and inspiring leaders
and when i asked them what drove them to
launch the exciting and impactful
organizations through which they do
their work
there’s almost always a recurring theme
it’s one i experienced myself
when people have the confidence to take
a life-changing leap
it almost always seems to follow a
significant
and often negative life event
it might be a redundancy a bullying boss
a relationship breakdown or in my case
an episode of mental ill health
and that really interests me because at
its core it deals with
risk management and risk assessment
our minds are in a constant state of
risk assessment
we make perhaps thousands of decisions
every day
some of them conscious some of them
unconscious
for example we approach the edge of a
cliff
on a bluey day instinctively we take a
step back
for our safety but when we choose to do
a charity abseil we might
face the risk of breaching the cliff
edge making judgments
on the trustworthiness of the instructor
the
strength of the rope the solidity of the
rock
fear can be great because it can keep us
safe it can stop us
getting burned in a fire or burned in a
relationship
it can stop us falling from a cliff or
falling from grace
but a real secret to happiness is
working out when fear keeps us
safe and when it keeps us trapped in an
unhappy cycle
how do we stop our irrational fears
from hindering us from taking the
required action
towards our goals
when i talk to the engaging and
inspiring leaders
who have taken a leap towards their
goals
the extent of the required action the
magnitude of the risk the impact to
perceive failure
is no greater than before the
significant event that pushed them
why didn’t they take a leap before
things went wrong why didn’t i
what has changed is the value or
importance placed on the emotion
the fear the fear might still exist
but it’s no longer an obstacle that
hinders us from taking the required
action towards our goals
fear was just a feeling a feeling
to protect ourselves sometimes from
something physical
sometimes something emotional fears of
inadequacy
loss of control failure missing out
uncertainty rejection changed being
judged
the action required the likelihood of
success the
impact of failure has not changed
but having the catalyst to push beyond
the feeling
focus on the facts and take the required
action significantly changes
the decisions we make just because it’s
scary
doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t take
action
which leaves us with a really exciting
and liberating question
how do we identify the fears that are
valid
and keep us safe by avoiding risk and
those that we
challenge and push past
well what are the things you’re not
prepared to compromise on
what really matters to you
where do they align with society’s
values where do they deviate
and what are the things you only fear
losing because somebody else has said
they’re important
confidence doesn’t always equate with
fearlessness
but it’s a solid platform from where we
can look
beyond our fears trusting in our own
decisions
and a key to having that confidence is
being really clear on our values
security autonomy boldness
compassion meaningful work wealth
what really matters to you and
where are you prepared to compromise
in order to make that decision we need
to be really clear
on our personal risk assessment matrix
in essence risk assessment is about
weighing up
and the likelihood of an outcome with
its impact
and our challenge is to make sure that
we’re using the right values and
measures
in our personal risk assessment process
because when we’re burdened by making
decisions based on the
safety security and success measures
that are important to us
in addition to this safety security and
success measures that are important to
other people
where they differ from our own our
comfort zone is very
small and constrained our critical
perceived disaster zone is much more
intimidating and imposing
so much can go wrong we can feel
intimidated
uncertain lacking confidence fearful
by identifying the source of the emotion
the fear be it
societal or personal we can work out the
value of that emotion to us in our
personal
risk assessment process training
ourselves to look
beyond societal norms and expectations
and making our
own values on our life path
the likelihood of a risk being a hazard
rather than an opportunity
is not changed what has changed is
our readiness to take a leap and our
level of fear
at the outcome when we don’t care what
others think
we’re freed to live a life of more
confidence
less fear more contentment greater
impact
we can face life’s challenges with
excitement and integrity living aligned
to our
own values not those imposed on us
but what if we were to change how we
view
the challenges we’re faced with
insurance divides risks into two
categories
pure risks also known as hazard or
absolute risks
and speculative risks also known as
opportunity risks
risks or uncertainties be a hazard or
opportunity
while only pure hazard risks
are insurable they’re deemed to have two
possible outcomes
loss or no loss fire is an example of a
hazard
either there is no unforeseen fire at
your home resulting in a status quo
no loss no gain or your home sets ablaze
resulting in a loss
there’s no perceived chance of a gain
from that risk
opportunity risks can produce
a loss or a gain
launching a business is an example of an
opportunity risk
there is the risk that your business
will fail and you’ll lose your
investment
but there is the risk or opportunity
that your
business will thrive and your investment
will grow
when we assess risks many times a day
we’re weighing up an
uncertainty with potential or expected
reward
the key question to ask is what do i
want
to gain and what am i prepared
to lose
but what if we were to consider
all risks as opportunity risks a chance
to
learn grow develop
while the desired outcome post loss is
generally perceived to be
resilience or bouncing back the true
outcome
is often fragility damage disorder
or anti-fragility made stronger through
disorder
robustness is when we just plow through
challenges unaffected by them
and while that clearly has advantages at
times
it also implies a lack of vulnerability
without being vulnerable perhaps we
don’t have the opportunity to be
shaped changed molded improved by the
challenges we face
when we allow ourselves to be positively
shaped reformed by challenges
perhaps growing in compassion patience
inclusivity for example
we can move beyond resilience
to the state of anti-fragility where
we’re made stronger and greater through
the challenges we face
can you think of someone who has faced
great adversity and has grown in
grace dignity wisdom through their
journey
when we strive to bounce forward there
still might be things
we fear for the health and safety of
loved ones for example
but we might have greater confidence and
self-belief in our own ability to face
the fears and challenges that currently
hinder us
from taking the required action to
achieve our goals
imagine your world living outside
the pressure of meeting society’s
expectations but
making value-based decisions that give
you the confidence
to take action towards your goals based
on their rewards
not precipitated through fear
living that life of confidence and
integrity
imagine the impact you make
changing the world for the better
so to pursue fearlessness let’s
clearly define our values goals
ambitions
ideas of success accept that trials
will change us and have confidence in
our own strength to tackle
any challenge
what would you do if pursuit of your
dreams drove you
not your fears what would you
leap to grab hold of what would you do
today