I’m not sure what put this phrase in my head, though I think in part it came from various posts by Seth Godin, and it represents something – a doubt maybe – about whether I’m doing enough.

I think of myself as fairly conservative when it comes to taking risks. Others might not agree, but the conservative part comes from me thinking I can do this. If I think I can get there, if I think extra effort will make the difference, then I’m in. It doesn’t seem like a huge risk when I decide to do it.

It’s hard to assess fairly. Risks, at least the ones that turn out ok, look smaller in hindsight. There’s also a difference between being out of the comfort zone and real risk, though emotionally they feel very similar.

I don’t know that I want to take risk for the sake of risk, or get out of my comfort zone (which is larger than it used to be) just because, but I am thinking that maybe there is another 10% or 20% edge to the envelope that I could push. Not sure how to get there. Not intuitive to take a risk that you don’t think will work. Maybe it’s a re-calibration, thinking that since I’m mostly succeeding on the risks I take that I can adjust the dial the next time I’m making a decision.

I’m not sure what that will look like yet. I think right now it’s the mental preparation for the next time I need to make one of those risk decisions.