When I think of the word “dare”…
the first thought that comes to my mind is the childhood game, Truth or Dare. In that game, if you ended up taking the dare, it usually meant you had to do something unappealing like eat dirt or kiss a boy (which was a big EWW back then).
As we got older, it seemed that the dares were less frequent.
Most of us finished school, got married, and are now possibly raising a family and working. The most daring thing we may do now is try a different food or see a movie that is not what we usually see.
In other words, we got complacent and are not venturing out of our comfort zone.
The issues with this are that it can be boring over time and can make us lose sight of what life is all about. Challenging ourselves to try something new can be a great learning experience and can expose us to a myriad of new opportunities.
As an example, I saw a Groupon for CrossFit.
I know a woman about my age who loves it. I figured I would do the three required starter classes and the ten regular classes, and then reassess the situation after that. How hard could that be? Well most of my fellow classmates who ranged in age from 20 to 50 years old all felt the pain after only two starter classes. One younger man said he even went so far as to ask his coworker to get a piece of paper he dropped because he was too sore to do it himself.
Surprisingly, by the time these sessions were over, I felt a lot better and was proud of myself that I could finish the workouts without passing out, so I signed up for more classes.
Some people are intimidated with trying something new.
It may be fear of the unknown or that they are insecure and don’t feel they can do it.
My advice then is to start small.
Maybe you want to get a new job or try a sport you have never played before. Regarding the job, reach out to people on LinkedIn and get their views on the job market and learn more about a particular industry or function you are interested in. Don’t do so much research that you never take the plunge into applying for jobs.
For all types of dares, be humble and ask for help.
I did not know anything about CrossFit, but what kept me going was the people who I worked out with; they explained things clearly and cheered me on even though I was as old as some of their mothers.
As you gain confidence, try to dare yourself to do bigger things.
You may fail sometimes but if you don’t try, you will never know, so go for it!