256. Taking small risks

:: 00:06

Hello and welcome to this episode of the Drink Less, Live Better podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Williamson, and I hope you enjoy these words today. Let's go.

:: 00:17

Taking small risks. Not the leap off a cliff without a parachute kind, not the quit your job and move to Barley tomorrow kind, although if that's your thing, then I love that for you and wish you well, but oh no, no, no, no, sit back, take a breath. We're going all together smaller.

:: 00:38

Over the last few years, something I have learned over and over is that big change rarely begins with big drama. It begins with small risks. You won't ever find me chatting about New Year's resolutions, ambitious intentions, audacious goals. Nope, not around here. Taking small risks, or mini leaps of faith, or setting achievable tasks are all good in my eyes. They're powerful because they help us to build evidence and proof that we can do tricky things.

:: 01:20

When you decide not to pour the second glass of wine, when you tell a friend you're taking a break from drinking, when you go to an event and leave early because you're knackered, when you say, "Actually, that doesn't work for me," each one whispers to your nervous system, "I can do new things. I can tolerate discomfort. I can act in alignment with who I want to be. I want my actions to match my words."

:: 01:50

Small risks are not about proving yourself. They're not about becoming someone else. They're about giving yourself chances to change in ways that fit your values and your level of current self-awareness. If you value health, a small risk might be going alcohol-free for a week and noticing what happens. If you value honesty, a small risk might be admitting you've been drinking more than you want to. If you value growth, a small risk might be signing up for something that scares you just enough to feel alive.

:: 02:28

The key word here is enough. Too big a leap and your nervous system will jangle. Too small and nothing shifts, nothing changes, you just circle back to where you were before. When was the last time you gave yourself a chance to gather new information about yourself? Because that's what a small risk really is. It's an experiment. Instead of asking, "What if this goes horribly wrong?" you can ask, "What might I learn from this? How might I gather new data?" Maybe you learn that socialising without alcohol is awkward for the first 20 minutes, but then completely fine. Maybe you learn that you're more resilient than you thought you were. Maybe you learn that something you've been tolerating no longer fits.

:: 03:19

Without risk, even small risk, we live inside assumptions. We assume it will be hard. We assume we can't cope. We assume people will judge us. But assumptions are just untested stories, and small risks help us test the stories, and clarity will be on the other side of that testing.

:: 03:44

If you're feeling a bit stuck right now, I gently suggest this. You might not need a whole new life plan. You might just need a small experiment. And if you go to my website, drinklesslivebetter.com, you can download the five-day experiment there.

:: 04:02

I was out leading a walk at the weekend, and people signed up and joined a group of people who they didn't know. They risked a part of themselves. They didn't know whether it would be okay. They spent a chunk of time, most of Saturday, some money signing up, train travel, and a stop in a tea and cake café, and energy. We walked a long way together in an area most people didn't know well at all. I'd done what I could to reassure the individuals prior to the event what would happen, what the plan looked like, and what to wear and bring. But of course, I cannot control everything that unfolds on a day.

:: 04:43

Dear listener, that risk people took to meet new people and spend a day away from their normal lives paid off. We had fabulous chats, deeper conversations, and laughs. We bonded over shared experiences and swapped stories. It was lovely because risks were taken.

:: 05:04

What would a 5% braver version of you do this week or month? What are you curious about exploring? We don't take small risks to punish ourselves or to perform growth. We take them to perhaps understand ourselves better. When you take small risks that align with your values, your self-trust will grow. And self-trust doesn't come from thinking about change. It comes from actually enacting it.

:: 05:34

Now, I also want to acknowledge something here. Small risks, even though they're small, might still feel uncomfortable. Your brain is wired to prefer the familiar, even if the familiar actually isn't working out that well for you. So when you step outside that pattern, expect a bit of resistance from yourself. And that resistance won't mean that you're doing it wrong.

:: 05:59

And remember, you get to choose risks that match your current capacity. If you're in a fragile season right now, your small risk might be incredibly gentle. If you're feeling strong, you might stretch yourself a bit further. But there will be no medal for the most dramatic transformation, unfortunately. Small risks are the quiet architects of a better life. That's what the prize will be. You are allowed to take the small risks.

:: 06:30

Thank you for being here today. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook at drinklesslivebetter and online at drinklesslivebetter.com, where you'll find lots of supportive resources. Check out today's podcast show notes for a link to a hidden episode that will help with 5:00 PM cravings and details about my one-to-one life coaching and sober coaching programmes. And PS, I believe in you.