How to Embrace Risk and Create Real Change

Taking risks isn’t about being reckless or fearless. It’s about being equipped to move forward armed with knowledge, intention and confidence.

At some point in life, most of us feel stuck. We know something needs to change yet we procrastinate or delay gratification. We wait for certainty or to feel ‘ready, for confidence to magically appear.

We label the change we want as ‘risky’. As a result, the mind pulls up all the negative words and connotations around risk… scary, dangerous, potential failure, a fool’s game, crazy, greedy etc.

This leads to us backing away from our desired change and staying in our comfort zone; which may feel safer in the short-term, but in the long-term can lead to frustration, regret or dissatisfaction.

This article will help you understand risk in a healthier way, not as something crazy or overwhelming, but as a very manageable, empowering process that helps you build confidence, resilience and self-belief.

Why Taking Risks Is Essential for Personal Growth

Risk is often misunderstood. Many people associate it with danger, loss or failure. In reality, not taking risks often comes at a much higher cost: staying stuck in a life that no longer fits.

Every meaningful change - changing career direction, setting boundaries, starting something new, leaving what feels safe - involves uncertainty aka risk. But growth does not happen inside comfort zones.

If you really want to embrace risk, ask yourself ‘Is this a risk, or is it just doing something different(ly) to what I’m used to?'

When you take considered risks to create change, you:

• Discover what you are capable of

• Learn to trust yourself

• Build emotional resilience

• Create momentum and clarity

• Grow

1. Reframe risk as an opportunity, not a threat

Your brain is wired to protect you. When something feels unfamiliar, your mind often labels it as dangerous even when it isn’t.

This is why risk can feel so uncomfortable. But discomfort does not mean danger.

When you see risk purely as a threat, fear takes over. When you reframe risk as safe and an opportunity to learn, your nervous system softens and your choices become clearer.

Try asking yourself:

• What could this help me learn about myself?

• What skills might I gain by trying?

• How could this expand my confidence, even if it doesn’t go perfectly?

A helpful reframe: 'This doesn’t have to work perfectly to be worthwhile.'

When risk is framed as learning, fear loses its grip and curiosity takes its place.

NLP Technique: Reframing

Your brain responds more to meaning than facts. When something feels risky, the words you use internally determine whether you feel paralysed or empowered.

Instead of asking: “What if this goes wrong?” Ask:“What becomes possible if this goes right?”

Say the new question out loud. NLP research shows spoken reframes are more powerful than silent ones because they engage multiple sensory pathways.

2. Create safety for yourself in order to embrace risk

When you feel safe, you can step into change much more easily. What do you need/want to have in place in order to feel safer? Smart risk feels safe… it is thoughtful, not reckless.

Safe and smart risk means:

• Pausing to reflect

• Gathering relevant information

• Considering realistic outcomes

• Making a plan that supports you emotionally and practically

  
  

You don’t need to eliminate uncertainty (that is almost impossible). But you can reduce overwhelm by focusing on what you can influence.

A powerful grounding exercise is to write down what is within your control, and what isn’t. Redirect your energy to the first list. This creates calm, clarity and confidence and makes risk feel safer and more manageable.

3. Build a growth mindset around risk

A growth mindset is the belief that you can improve, adapt and learn, even when things feel difficult. Without a growth mindset, risk feels like a test you might fail.

Growth happens when you allow yourself to be a learner, not a perfectly formed, finished product.

Instead of: “What if I get this wrong?” Try: “What might this teach me?”

This shift is powerful because it removes pressure. You no longer need to be perfect; you only need to be willing.

NLP Technique: “Yet” Language Pattern

I love NLP. It is all about language and a small tweak to the words you use will make a huge difference.

Your subconscious treats language as instruction. Adding the word yet keeps your brain open instead of shutting down.

• “I can’t do this” → “I can’t do this yet”

• “I’m not confident” → “I’m building confidence”

  
  

This keeps your identity intact while enabling personal growth, a core NLP identity-level shift.

4. Start small - confidence is built gradually

You don’t need to take life-changing leaps to become braver. Confidence grows through small, consistent actions that stretch you just beyond what feels comfortable.

Examples of small risks:

• Saying no when you usually say yes

• Sharing an opinion you’d normally keep quiet

• Trying something new without mastering it

• Taking one step toward a goal instead of the whole journey

  
  

Each small action sends a message to your brain: I can handle this. Over time, these small moments of courage compound into real self-belief.

Life Coaching Technique: Minimum Viable Courage

Confidence doesn’t come from big leaps — it comes from keeping promises to yourself.

Ask:“What is the smallest version of this risk I could take today?”

Then commit to only that step.

For example; one email, one conversation,one hour of research. Each completed step builds neurological evidence that you are capable.

5. Redefine failure as feedback

Fear of failure is one of the biggest barriers to change, but failure itself is rarely the real problem. What hurts most is the meaning we attach to it.

Failure does not mean you are incapable, that you made the wrong choice or that you shouldn’t try again. It means you gathered information or learned something valuable and that you are actively engaged in your growth.

When you remove shame from failure, risk becomes less intimidating and more empowering.

6. Learn to trust your inner voice

While logic is important, over-thinking often keeps people stuck.

Your intuition isn’t random. It is shaped by your experiences, values and inner wisdom. Learning to trust it is a skill you can learn. But learning to hear it – over the noise of negative thinking, fear, judgement, comparison – is critical.

A balanced approach works best:

• Use logic to assess the situation

• Use intuition to sense what aligns with you (not someone else)

• Use feelings to check in with your body (tension often signals misalignment)

  
  

NLP Technique: Somatic Yes / No Check

Your body often knows before your mind does. One of the NLP Beliefs of Excellence is ‘Mind and body are systemic’.

Think about the risk and notice how you feel: Expansion or contraction? Ease or tightness? Calm or agitation?

Then ask:“If I don’t do this, how does my body feel?”

NLP teaches that physiological responses reveal alignment faster than logic alone.

7. Surround yourself with people who support growth

Confidence is contagious. As is fear. Your nervous system mirrors the people around you.

Friends, family and colleagues have great intentions and more often than not want to help and support you. However, their own fear of risk will unconsciously colour their opinion. Sometimes, a trained neutral advisor is the perfect partner to help you move forward and make changes.

• When you are surrounded by fear-based thinking, staying small feels justified.

• When you are surrounded by growth-minded people, your change feels possible and your courage grows.

You don’t need everyone to understand your choices, you just need the right support.

Seek out supportive conversations; coaches, mentors or peers who encourage your progress and spaces where growth is normal, not judged.

When I was contemplating the ‘risk’ of leaving my career to go travelling at aged 34, I signed up to inspiring talk events, network groups and sought out people who had already done the same. It helped me move past the nay sayers telling me I was a dreamer and not to give up my 'safe' career.

8. Build emotional resilience for uncertainty

Feeling uncertainty is unavoidable. The goal is not to eliminate it but instead to build the capacity to sit with it and accept it exists.

When you know you can cope emotionally, uncertainty stops feeling overwhelming and starts feeling navigable.

NLP Technique: Future Pacing

Your brain calms when it can imagine coping successfully.

Close your eyes and imagine that you took the risk then something unexpected happened yet you handled it all calmly and competently. Visualise how you responded. What do you see, hear and feel after you handled it. This teaches your brain that uncertainty is survivable.

9. Acknowledge and celebrate progress

Many people move their goalposts without noticing how far they have come.

Celebrating progress is not arrogance. When you celebrate your progress, you reinforce your self belief and create momentum to do more.

Take time to acknowledge all the steps you took despite fear, the boundaries you have honoured, the risks you considered thoughtfully and the growth you can now see clearly.

Confidence grows when effort is recognised.

NLP Technique: Positive Anchoring

Celebration anchors confidence into your nervous system.

When you complete a brave step:

• Pause

• Smile

• Take a deep breath

• Say: “I did that.”

  
  

Repeat this consistently. NLP anchoring links courage with positive emotion, making future risks easier.

10. Take action... even if you don’t feel ready

There is no perfect moment to change your life. Readiness often comes after action, not before it. Waiting until fear disappears usually means waiting forever.

Ask yourself:

• What is the smallest step I can take today? (Progress comes from movement)

• What feels supportive rather than overwhelming?

• What choice aligns with who I want to become?

Your brain learns confidence through behaviour, not thinking. Here is an 'Act-As-If' coaching technique:

Ask yourself “If I trusted myself 10% more, what would I do next?”

Then do only that.

Action rewires belief. Confidence follows movement, not the other way around.

Final Thoughts: Risk is not the enemy... staying stuck is

Taking a risk doesn’t mean being reckless, dramatic or fearless. It means being willing to move forward with awareness, self-trust and the right support in place.

As you’ve seen throughout this article, risk can be broken down into small, manageable steps that build confidence and reduce fear.

When you reframe risk, create safety for yourself, listen to your inner voice and take action before you feel completely ready, change becomes possible and sustainable.

You don’t need certainty to move forward; you need compassion, courage and a willingness to begin. Real change doesn’t happen all at once. It happens the moment you decide to take the next small step towards the life you want.