I went to my first ever Casino party this weekend. Every attendee was given $1,000 in fake money and a challenge to win as much money as possible because there would be a prize for the big winner.  Challenge accepted!  A funny thing happened as I sat down for my first few hands of blackjack.  I bet the table minimum; so when I lost, I only lost a little, but that also meant even when I won, it wasn’t very much. That prize seemed to be already out of reach.

Then it hit me, if I was going to have a shot at being the night’s big winner I was going to have to bet big.  I couldn’t focus on losing, because that wasn’t my goal. So I got gutsy, I bet some big hands, winning most of them and losing a few until I became unphased by the losses because I was ready for the next opportunity to win again.  And then I had an interesting thought…what would happen if I took that same approach to my career? How could I be that courageous?

Here’s how:

1. Acknowledge your fears then do it anyway. Fear of failure, fear
   of success, we all face fears when it comes to our dreams.  When your fears try to sideline you, remember this – you are greater than your fears and your doubts; they don’t own you, you own them.
2. Give yourself permission to fail and try again.  You might not get it right the first time or the second time but what you will gain is perspective and experience that will put you that much closer to your goal. The key is to be ok with knowing that achieving success may take a few tries and to keep going.
3. Reframe your thoughts.  There’s a scene from the movie “Casino” where a card shark in the casino who’s lost big and scaled down his bets as he kept playing. Robert De Niro makes a profound observation, “He [the card shark] didn’t see it as winning $10,000, he saw it as losing $30,000 and eventually raised his bet.” Everyday you put off that dream you keep running away from, the promotion or raise you’ve been too afraid to ask for,  or going to the job where you feel stuck and undervalued, you’re winning $10K but losing $30K.

Here’s the thing, you can’t lose (you really can’t).  You will either win or you will learn. There’s no glory in playing small so if you’re ready to begin walking in your destiny you’re going to have to put all the chips on the table.  I’m betting with you.

Greatness awaits,

Ashley