Psychologist and celebrated author, Dr. Marcia Emery

Danger or Opportunity?
Using Intuition to Know When to Risk

You don’t have to go rock climbing or race cars to take a risk. Just living day to day involves a certain amount of danger. Some life decisions, of course, seem inherently more risky than others, especially those-leaving a steady job, moving far away-that involve risking a sure thing for an uncertain future. Because so much seems to rest on such life decisions, it’s easy to become paralyzed by fear and indecision, which clouds your ability to see whether the risk is worth taking.

But hidden inside every risk is a chance for growth. In fact, the Chinese word for crisis-weiji-combines two characters that separately mean danger and opportunity. The perfect image! You can use your intuition to act with bold confidence in times of danger and/or opportunity.

As you get better and better at risking, you’ll discover the secret of successful people. When you’re so in tune with your intuition that you know in your heart and soul you are doing the right thing-no matter how it looks to everyone else-a risk is not a risk at all. Here’s a good illustration.

In 1985, Birthale Lambert-a young professor teaching senior nursing students at a university, grew tired of teaching and wanted to start her own visiting nurse business. She was filled with entrepreneurial zeal. Everyone told her she'd need at least $50,000 and probably $100,000 to start her new business. These figures were far from Birthale's scant $25 bank account, but she never doubted she could raise the money and she never doubted that she would succeed. Instead, she listened only to her intuition, which loudly shouted, "Go for it!" She never saw this new business as a risk, but as the opportunity of a lifetime. She knew she had the talent and was willing to work hard. While someone else might have focused on the risk to their reputation if they were to fail, or on not having the needed energy or funds to make it happen, Birthale seized the opportunity. Today, Birthale has parlayed her vision, The Professional Nursing Force, into a million-dollar business.

Remember: A risk-taker is like a skydiver who confidently leaps into the unknown, but has the skills it takes to stay alive and enjoy the ride. Unlike skydiving, however, risk-taking is for everyone! Here's your goal: to trust your intuition to help you take risks that truly pay off. Someday, the word risk may even disappear from your vocabulary!

Here's how a couple people were able to use their intuition to take a leap of faith. Leaving a homeland is an incredible risk. When Roland Hoffman left Germany to visit the United States, he never thought of his move as permanent. But his intentions changed completely when he met the woman who would become his wife. Roland's biggest risk was giving up his highly successful career in Europe. Yet the love in his heart ignited his intuition and prompted him to leave his secure position behind and plant new roots in America.

When Martin Rutte lived in Toronto, his work as a management consultant took him all over the world. After returning from a sojourn to Hong Kong, he slid into a mysterious funk. This inexplicable depression startled Martin, who dearly loved his wife and business activities. Later that year, while spending time in an Augustinian monastery, he had a profound epiphany: He heard the phrase, "It's about God." Intuitively, he knew that the field of spirituality and work would be his next professional focus.

This was a risky career shift, since his colleagues felt that anyone talking about "spirituality and work" was either proselytizing, dogmatic, or gone off the deep end. In fact, every single person he talked to advised him against this career shift. How could he risk it and delve into this new arena without being totally ostracized? Still, his intuitive mind prodded him to risk it. Today-seventeen years later-he is a leader in the emerging field of spirituality in the workplace.

Risk taking means a total leap of faith: Even as you jump into the unknown, you know you will land safely. What makes some people actually jump out of the plane, dive off a cliff into the ocean, or even get up off the couch to see what’s outside the front door? What prompts a person to leave the security of a career, home, or solid partnership and venture into the void? This usually happens when satisfaction fades from a formerly nurturing situation. As the green light flashes GO, the adventurous risk taker is off to search for a more pleasing job, place to live, or partner.

Many people were surprised when Carol Hegedus left her twenty-two-year position as a hospital administrator to join the nonprofit Fetzer Institute in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A year later, however, her friend Ann said, "Carol I couldn't believe that you gave up the career that you were so successful in and took the risk to do this thing at Fetzer." And Carol replied, "Ann, if I had known it was a risk I probably would never have done it."

Power Tool: Taking A Leap of Faith People who worked at McMillan Publishing in the 1970s still recall "Friede's Folly." Editor Eleanor Friede was determined to turn a children's manuscript that had been rejected by numerous publishers into a successful adult book. Against advice, she took the risk to publish Jonathan Livingston Seagull a book that has since sold over 10 million copies in twenty-seven languages. Her leap of faith delighted readers all over the world.

Have you ever taken a leap of faith? Focus on a goal. It can be approaching a project in a novel way, confronting another person, or even instituting an innovative way to help your child learn a new skill. Taking a risk begins when you actually take the first couple steps. Let your intuitive mind give you a signal about what you have to do to take that first intuitive step before you leap. Let your intuitive mind speak to you in pictures, symbols and images of your end goal to guide you confidently through those first steps. Perhaps Eleanor Friede had an image of an acceptance letter for the book, or heard the chirp of a seagull.

There’s no doubt about it: We live in a time of rapid change. Many people complain of feeling overwhelmed and fearful, describing the world as “chaotic,” “turbulent,” and, “troubling.” They want to know how to live, how to arrange their priorities, how to get back in balance in such uncertain times. If this is the world you perceive, taking a risk is probably the last thing you want to do. But what if you turn your perception around and describe these times as "challenging," "exciting," and "creative"? As the wave of change wells up, you can ride your intuition like a surfboard, letting it carry you to your next destination.

Power Tool: Change Your Language to Change Your Perceptions
The words we use to describe our lives really describe our inner state of mind. By changing the way we speak about a situation, a person, a relationship, or anything else, we go a long way toward changing our attitude. Like most of us, you probably use words habitually, without hearing what they imply-is it negativity or optimism? Fear or trust? If you don’t like what you hear, it’s time to get a new vocabulary!

It’s hard to hear ourselves, so for this exercise, enlist the help of a friend to make you aware when negative words or phrases are slipping through in your speech. For example, C.J. noticed that her friend Syd started almost every sentence with the phrase, “I know it sounds crazy, but …” Syd was really surprised when C.J. told her this. She realized she really didn’t have much faith in her own perceptions, and decided to make a change. She tried to pay strict attention to what she was saying, and replaced this phrase with another: “Here’s what I think …”

Try this for at least a week. Every time a friend or colleague makes you aware of a word or phrase that you frequently use, write it in your PowerHunch Journal. Next to it, write down a new, more positive word or phrase. Practice using the replacement. The more you practice this exercise, the more you will become aware of your speech and the more automatic your corrections will become. Notice how your mind has changed in the process.

Copyright © 2001 by Marcia Emery, Ph.D.

Adapted with permission from PowerHunch! Living An Intuitive Life, published by Beyond Words Publishing, Inc., Hillsboro, Oregon.

Other intuitively stimulating Books by Psychologist, Dr. Marcia Emery available online via Amazon or Barnes and Noble:

Intuitive Healer: Accessing Your Inner Physician. St. Martins, 1999, 2000.

Dr. Marcia Emery's Intuition Workbook. Prentice Hall, 1994. Visit www.powerhunch.com for audio tapes.