The past month my church has been doing a series called the New Normal. Each week someone preached on one of the church’s core values and last week one of the things my pastor said caught my attention.
He said, “Since we believe playing it safe is risky, we intentionally embrace creative innovation so that we can develop transformational leaders.” Did you catch that? Playing it safe is risky. What a bold statement.
It seems completely counterintuitive, but often playing it safe can cripple us. While the rest of the world continues to change and evolve, we’re stuck doing the same thing we’ve always done.
Sometimes taking a risk can cause you to fall flat on your face. You end up having to apologize or admit that it was a mistake. Other times it gives birth to some of the best ideas. It’s like the classic phrase, “You’ll never hit the ball if you don’t swing.”
I’ve learned that fear can be the biggest killer of creativity.
So, when someone offers an idea that seems crazy or something pops into my head that could lead to something incredible but I’m just not sure, I stop and ask, “What’s holding me back?” If the answer is fear, then I try to push that aside and move forward with the idea. Sure, there’s times when the answer isn’t fear. There’s times when what’s holding me back is that it’s just not a good idea or I don’t have the necessary resources or it’s not the right time. But I have determined not to let fear hold me back. Because playing it safe is risky.
What do you think? Have you ever regretted letting fear hold you back from something?
photo credit: SweetOnVeg via photopin cc