Risky Business: how to be decisive when the stakes are high

Does this sound too good to be true?

You inherited a thriving business with a unique and brilliant product. You continue to be well ahead of your rivals and if you said your business is cash-rich, it would be a major understatement. You employ 20 capable people who look after themselves and your business, you have a stunning house (just like the one in this photo,) lots of

land, no financial concerns, a lovely fiancee, a fluffy pooch and yes, you're also good-looking, wise, charming, humble and still relatively young ... for one of my clients, it's not too good to be true because this is his life and his story is real. But before your envy eats you up, he has a serious headache caused by a tricky dilemma.

In spite of the success of his business product, he's barely scratched the surface of its potential market, so, does he:

A) Sit tight, enjoy his life, continue to make his money (easily), maybe sell his business on and live the good life? It's certainly the easier option, but if he followed this path, would he one day regret not having made the most of this astonishing product?

B) Does he give his product a kick up the backside by expanding his ambitions and taking the business to a whole new level? This option would prove uncomfortable because for the first time since taking over the business, his level of risk and work would massively increase.

Only he can decide which path to take but having faced some agonising decisions in my own life, I have a few observations to make about risk and how to be decisive when the stakes are high.

1) We give the notion of 'risk' too much power. 

We can spend hours stuck on a decision because of the potential risks ahead and yet we take risks every day without even thinking about it. You could argue that when the stakes are higher, we're naturally more indecisive, but did you know that the number of pedestrians killed whilst walking has massively risen in the last few years?

It's a global phenomenon and it's caused by 'text-walking'. So, the next time, you're walking to the pub to meet your friends and one of them texts you to say they'll be late and on receipt of that text, you text back saying, "no worries, I'm late too, see you there", you're taking a risk, the stakes couldn't be higher and you didn't even think about it!  Spare a thought for the poor woman who walked off the end of a pier on Lake Michigan last year ... text walking ... it's a risk! 

2) Your gut instinct usually has the right answer.

Whilst it's advisable to opt for calculated risks over blind risks, the calculation process can drag you into analysing every conceivable angle, doing your SWOT analysis and taking advice from anyone who will listen to you (including Auntie Margaret). For all the sleepless nights and time spent in futile mind-wrestling, your gut instinct generally holds the right answer for you from the outset. It's a deep and powerful voice which confirms what is right and wrong and when we go against our gut, we feel uneasy, unsettled and undecided, (even if we think we've definitely made our decision).

When you're faced with tough decisions; get in touch with what your gut is telling you, take time out to reflect peacefully on your options (avoid getting stressed about the wrestling process), develop a clear mind by breathing deeply, shut off the conflicting voices in your mind, cut out all trivial distractions, simply be at peace about your dilemma and over time, the answers will come to you.

3) If your risk implicates your loved ones, keep them on-board with your risk.

If you're weighing up a choice where one or more of your options involves risk, ask yourself: does this risk implicate people I care about? If the answer is "yes", talk to them and find out what sacrifices they're prepared to make with you and for you ... and what sacrifices they're not prepared to make!

For the entrepreneur I described, if he expands his operation, it would be advisable to explore this with his wife-to-be and be clear that she is ok with what his decision will require of him - and what it will require of her. If she's not on-board, then the extra hours in the office, the time away overseas ... it may not be the best start to married life! :(

4) Opportunities are fleeting: deliberately decline them or grasp them - avoid fumbling with them.

The best windows of opportunity only open-up occasionally and generally stay open for a limited period of time. Whether it's business, personal relationships, your health or lifestyle, the opportunities will keep coming (so long as you're open in spirit and proactive in outlook), but when the opportunities open up to you, your time is limited in deciding whether to take them or leave them. Some windows are best left alone due to circumstances so deliberately decline them and be at peace about what you potentially missed. Some windows must be grasped but whatever you do, don't let the windows close on you because you ran out of time thinking  about what to do! 

5) Opt for an 'easing-in approach' over a 'plunging-in approach'.

When it comes to wild swimming, I prefer to jump in and get the initial pain over rather than prolong the agony by easing myself into the icy-cold water. But with tough decisions involving risk, I much prefer the 'easing-in' approach because it can help manage your risk by creating time and perspective for you to analyse your chosen route. Easing-in is usually wise and in most cases, so long as your planning is good enough, 'easing-in' is usually a viable option.

One of the biggest battles I've faced in my life was a custody battle for my two daughters. My eldest daughter had been pleading with me for years to move but conscious of the family court system which favors the resident parents, I had resisted applying for residency, until one day, my ex-wife blocked my contact with my daughters. I was advised that if I pursued a residency application as the non-resident parent, I would definitely lose and waste thousands of pounds in the process, but I knew it was the right thing to do and in spite of the prevailing logic, my gut instinct was very clear. Thus, in keeping with an 'easing-in' approach, I launched my residency application, but I also established a clear forecast with my solicitor of where and when the financial burden could soar for me, and at each of these points, we developed a plausible exit plan.

By identifying where the crunch points could occur and fostering a plan of action for each of them, I knew that I could easily back-track and get out of my chosen route before the stakes spiraled out of control. This knowledge helped me to be at peace about being decisive and I avoided procrastinating on a key decision. I call it the 'easing-in' approach, because you take definite action, but you do so in a measured way, making gradual progress whilst constantly looking around you to check the variables. The 'plunging-in approach' can have its merits, but I tend to save it for wild swimming!

I'm a coach, trainer, blogger, speaker & author of The Impact Code - Unlocking Resilience, Productivity & Influence (Available on Amazon - https://goo.gl/s9V7ix)

I'm also a dad to 3 energetic kids, which means: I'm a taxi-driver, cleaner, porter, triage nurse, war-zone reporter, chief investigator, law enforcement officer, diplomat, relationship counsellor, health & safety officer, multi-skilled entertainer, cook, maid, slave, choreographer and fashion consultant (my kids would unanimously dispute the last two).

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