What’s the worst thing that can hap­pen? What if I don’t do well on this exam? What if he says no? What if I get turned down for the pro­mo­tion, or nobody agrees with me, or I lose every­thing I invested? What is really the worst case?

Worst Case Think­ing is a process that can aid those of you who find your­selves unable to take healthy risks. This sim­ple think­ing model can help you to over­come the neg­a­tive emo­tions that are birthed in illog­i­cal fear.

Over the years, this type of fear has come up count­less times in coach­ing ses­sions. I’ve seen Worst Case Think­ing help many in their lives and careers to risk more, expe­ri­ence more, impact more and grow more. Here is how it works.

The next time you find your­self not want­ing to speak up in a group, or enter into a con­ver­sa­tion with your spouse or teenage daugh­ter, ask your­self this ques­tion: If I do this, what is the worst case scenario?

Chal­lenge your­self to answer the ques­tion as log­i­cally as you can. Then test your answer. Could that really hap­pen? Is it likely? And if that does hap­pen, what does it mean for you? What will you learn or expe­ri­ence as a result of tak­ing that risk?

What I have found is that you may need to ask the ques­tion mul­ti­ple times to get to the real worst case. Then once you are there, you can log­i­cally assess the prob­a­bil­ity of that out­come hap­pen­ing. Most of the time, you will real­ize that the like­li­hood of that worst case out­come is pretty minuscule.

Now, ask your­self one final ques­tion: If the worst case does in fact hap­pen, can you deal with it? If you hon­estly can’t, then don’t take the risk. If you can, and the risk appears to be wise and worth tak­ing, you are now armed with more courage because you know you are pre­pared for any outcome.

Prac­tic­ing Worst Case Think­ing increases your dis­cern­ment and your courage, and I have found it to be very help­ful in all aspects of busi­ness and life.

Try it. What’s the worst that can happen?

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Tags: Decision Making, Fear, Risk, Self Development

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