Overcome Your Fear of Taking Risks and Learn to Make Choices with Sukhinder Singh Cassidy
Are you afraid to make choices? Many of us get wrapped up in the fear that a single decision can make or break our entire lives. Choosing to go to one school over another, or taking a job and turning down an offer—these may seem like the sole determinants of our future. However, success and failure are often an accumulation of decisions and not something that stems from only one choice.
In today's episode, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy joins us to talk about how to bravely own your decisions. Every time we make choices, we also take on some risks. However, you can grow to become more discerning and calculated. Sukhinder also shares how you can change your perspective around making decisions, embracing changes, and recovering from failure. We also talk about seeking truth at work so that you can be your most authentic self.
If you want to stop agonizing about making choices, this episode is for you!
Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:
Discover why you become unable to make choices and how you can begin to act.
Learn the ways you can foster truth-telling at work so you can live as your truest self.
Understand how success is a cycle and an accumulation of choices over time.
Resources
Understand the way you take risks here!
Choose Possibility by Sukhinder Singh Cassidy
Books by Kim Scott
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Episode Highlights
The Myth of the Single Choice
Sukhinder’s book aims to debunk myths surrounding risk-taking.
Society often celebrates big risk-takers, leading many to think that success is all about one big choice.
When we put such pressure on a single choice, we become paralyzed and unable to act.
The relationship between risk and reward is not linear. It’s not about the first choice; it's about continuing to make choices.
Tune in to the full episode to hear Sukhinder’s view on the cyclical journey of making choices.
Change Your Mindset Surrounding Choice
We accept that companies need to pivot to become successful. Take, for example, Uber and Amazon.
However, we tend to think our careers need to be linear.
Our careers can have multiple cycles of change, success, and even failure.
Remember that you can still make choices to recover after a failure.
Make Choices, Expect Risks, and Be Patient
Risk accompanies each decision, but having a system can help you stop agonizing whenever you make choices.
While we should act on our agency to make choices, remember that some results may not be in your control.
Take time to sort through your options before you make choices. Be a calculated risk-taker.
You can’t force success, as it is the result of your circumstances. However, you can control how you respond to these things.
Spirituality and Risk-Taking
Sukhinder’s parents were doctors, and they believed that their work was how they gave back to the world.
Her parents’ beliefs largely influenced her thinking. For Sukhinder, who you are at work is part of who you are.
Work can give you joy and purpose if you choose the right workplace for you.
Sukhinder also shares that her father’s entrepreneurship and creativity inspired how she sees her work.
Find Where You Can Fit In
Your full self can only be realized in the right environment and workplace.
Put yourself in places that align with your values and celebrate your strengths.
Fitting in also means being in the right culture that helps you feel included.
When we don’t show ourselves fully, that may be because we are afraid of taking risks.
However, we can make choices and take small risks to express ourselves more.
Being a Truth Teller
We’ve all been taught that speaking up will make people dislike us.
Have more agency at work by asking questions that will help reveal the truth.
Seeking the truth will help not only you but everyone around you.
Bosses should learn how to foster truth-telling in their workplaces, as it helps everyone learn faster.
Listen to the full episode to hear Sukhinder’s experiences of being a truth-teller at work!
Lessons from the Pandemic
Sukhinder likens the pandemic to a coconut event.
It is something that showed us how flexible and resilient we can be.
Embrace change. Exercise your risk-taking ability and develop it like a muscle.
Make choices about what you want to change today. If you’re intimidated by big decisions, start with smaller ones.
You just need to take the first step and keep going until you start seeing results.
Success is an Accumulation of Choices
Sukhinder shares how she chose to quit Google and become CEO of Polyvore. However, she was outed after only six months.
To an outsider, this situation might have seemed like a failure.
However, 10 years later, those choices led her to become a board member in various e-commerce and lifestyle companies.
There is a rhythm to how we make choices and unlock results. Sometimes, these are just not the ones we are conditioned to expect.
Don’t let your failures cripple you. The more you make choices, the more you’ll encounter failure, but the more you’ll accumulate successes too.
Have the Courage to Ask
Learn to negotiate to help balance your life, whether for work or personal matters.
Sukhinder shares how she was able to negotiate with Google to take her daughter on international trips.
Don’t treat your professional and personal life in an entitled way. Rather, try to balance everyone’s needs.
Acknowledge that in a negotiation, something will be sacrificed. So it’s important to be open and communicative.
If you don’t ask, you’ll never know what’s possible.
Being Imperfect
We can’t have everything perfect and balanced in every single moment in time, and that’s okay.
It’s more important to look at things over a longer period.
How Sukhinder Feels Radically Loved
Sukhinder feels radically loved by the support and appreciation she has gotten from her family and colleagues.
5 Powerful Quotes from This Episode
[07:53] “When you fail, you still have a choice to make about what to do next. And once you've lived those cycles enough, another dawn will rise if you fail again.”
[11:29] “You can't force everything; you can't force success.”
[23:23] “Whether you seek out change or change seeks you out, your opportunity is to embrace change and become calculated and think of it as a muscle you can exercise.”
[24:31] “You're not one choice away from success. Success is often many unfolding choices, and they’re imperfect. All you really need to do is make the first one.”
[29:48] “People who choose frequently may encounter more failure; they're likely to accumulate more success as well.”
About Sukhinder
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy is a top digital CEO and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in leading, advising, and scaling companies including StubHub, Google, Amazon, Yodlee, and Polyvore. She is the founder and chairman of theBoardlist, a talent marketplace for leaders who are seeking executive opportunities.
Sukhinder is also a multi-time board member and angel investor for several companies including TripAdvisor, Urban Outfitters, Reformation, and Ericsson! In her upcoming book, Choose Possibility, Sukhinder talks about taking risks and thriving even when you fail.
Interested in connecting with Sukhinder? You can reach her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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