The Risk You’re Avoiding Is the Life You’re Missing

Why playing it safe is costing you more than failing ever will

What if the biggest risk in your life… is the one you keep avoiding?

Most people think they’re “playing it safe.” 

But in reality?

They’re slowly risking:

their freedom
their potential
their purpose
and the life they actually want.

In this powerful episode of the Black Sheep Leadership Podcast, Athena Renee breaks down the uncomfortable truth about risk, fear, comfort zones, and why doing nothing is often the most dangerous decision of all.

This episode explores:

 🔹 Why every choice in life carries risk
 🔹 The 6 major risks you’re already taking daily
 🔹 The difference between reckless risk and calculated risk
 🔹 How Harriet Tubman changed history by taking one terrifying step into the unknown

You’ll also learn a simple but powerful risk framework inspired by Nido Qubein to help you make clearer decisions without being controlled by fear.

Because the truth is…

You are already risking something.

The only question is:

 Are you risking growth…or risking regret?

If you’ve been stuck:

•  overthinking 
•  procrastinating 
•  waiting for certainty 
•  scared to move 

This episode is your wake-up call.

🎯 Key Takeaways

•  Doing nothing is still a risk 
•  Comfort can become a prison 
•  Fear decreases when clarity increases 
•  Calculated risks create growth 
•  History rewards people who move before guarantees exist

 #BlackSheepLeadership
 #Loyalty
 #TrustTheProcess
 #MindsetShift
 #ProtectYourEnergy
 #SelfLeadership
 #GrowthMindset
 #NoMoreExcuses
 #PersonalDevelopment
 #LeadershipMindset
 #BlackSheepMindset
 #LevelUpYourLife
 #ClarityIsPower
 #StayFocused
 #BoundariesMatter
 #InnerWork
 #ExecutionMode
 #OwnYourLife
 #RealTalk
 #NextLevel 

"INFORMATION IS EVERYWHERE EXECUTION IS RARE"

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:32

What's up, people? I want to welcome you all to the Black Sheep Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, Athena Renee, and this is where the underdogs, the misfits, and the black sheets tap in to turn pain into power and build a life by design so that you can leave a legacy behind. Now listen, if this is your first time tapping in, what's up, family? Because you have tapped into the right room at the right time. And if this is your second time back again, what's up, what's up? Because you already know what time it is. But let's do this quick live chat. Because if you're easily offended, sensitive, entitled, still waiting on somebody to come save you, or you get mad when people call you out and you know you're wrong, this ain't even your safe space. Go ahead and tap out now. But if you're ready to think different so you can move different and level up, stay locked in because by the end of this episode, you're walking away with something that you can execute immediately. Now let's get to work. We're gonna be talking about the risk you're avoiding in life is the life you're missing out on. See, most people think risk is optional. It's not risk is automatic. Did you guys know that risk is automatic? See, you don't choose whether or not you take risk, you only choose which risk you take because everything is risky, right? I'm gonna just give you the quick example and then we're gonna run through a few. If you sit down in a chair, you risk that chair falling apart. But guess what? You said, I'm gonna take the risk and I'm gonna sit down in it. You see how simple that is? Everything in life is a risk. If you get in your car and drive up the street, there's a risk that something may happen on the way. But you said, you know what, I'm gonna risk it. See, youth might say, Hey, you go to college, it's risky. You might have parents that tell you, oh no, stay at home, stay close to home. To go to college, guess what? It's all a risk. Whether you go out for college to another state, another country, or you stay close to home. It's a risk. It's a risk. If you say, I'm not going to college, I don't need that. It's a risk. You want to start a business? Oh, it's risky. But guess what? You don't start it, that's risky too. How about when you wanted to speak up about something you didn't appreciate at work, or you wanted to speak up about something that someone did to you personally? You want to speak up. That's risky. Why? Because you might risk making them mad, you might risk losing the friendship. But check this out if you stay quiet, you risk allowing them to think it's okay to treat you that way. It's a risk. Some of you might say, Well, I won't do nothing at all. Guess what? Doing something is a risk, but doing nothing is a bigger risk. So we're gonna break this down the right way. Because risk at its core means to dare, to expose yourself to uncertainty, to move without guarantees, and that's life. If you think about it, nothing is life, nothing in life is guaranteed except death. Some people like to say nothing in life is guaranteed except taxes and dying, right? And that could be true as well, but risk itself, life is just a big old risk because the only guarantee that we can honestly say is the guarantee of death. But the problem is most people aren't trying to eliminate risk, they're trying to avoid discomfort. Okay, people love to be comfortable. This is why people stay in relationships they hate, they stay at jobs they hate, they keep hanging around people that they know they don't like. You know why they are trying to avoid the discomfort of going somewhere new. Now, there's a concept that I teach in the 33 degrees of misfit mastery, and it is degree number 12, and it talks about never getting comfortable, okay. So, I'm gonna give you a wonderful example so you can understand how big risk is, and then we're gonna continue to break it down, okay, and how risk can literally just change your life, okay. We're gonna give you you already know we're gonna give you those action steps, but I really want you guys to grab hold to this thing called risk, okay? Now let's talk about Netflix, all right. Now, Netflix came out, I believe, around 2001, could have been a little bit earlier. Um, but Netflix had a vision, they started thinking about how the world would be. Their main company competitor at that time was Blockbuster. If you know anything about Blockbuster, Blockbuster was this huge franchise that rented out VHS for the VCRs. This was before CDEs, okay. Y'all know I'm an 80s baby, so um, some of you guys, if you're not hit to it, you may not know, okay, but we're gonna talk about this risk because Netflix saw the future, they saw things changing, but but blockbuster that had the VHS and were bringing them out, they were so comfortable because they were number one. And check this out they had multiple opportunities to sell the business andor to upgrade to more digital platforms. Guess what? They were comfortable. So, what ended up happening? You know what happened. Netflix came in and blew them out the water, starting off with the CDs, they started renting the CDs by mail. Number one, you don't have to come to our location, we will mail you the DVDs and you mail them back. Then Netflix went on to get the digital platform, right? And before you know it, as we're speaking today, Netflix is a billion-dollar company. Why? Because they took risk. Uh Blockbuster, we don't even hear about them anymore. Only time you know about Blockbuster if you were around during that time. But do you know why Blockbuster is not around anymore? They got one location, I believe somebody was saying when I was doing the research. One location in Dallas, Texas, because I believe that's where they started at. Well, long story short, do you know why they're not number one anymore? They got comfortable. See, one thing you must understand, guys, is this specifically if you resonate with being a black sheep, regardless if you're number one or number five, there's always somebody coming for your spot, and you can never be comfortable. Even if you say, Well, I'm not gonna be, I don't, I don't want to be number one necessarily. Guess what? You still need to make sure you stay up on top of your skill set. So, for an example, you might be at work, right? You might be at work and you see different things changing, you see people getting laid off. So, guess what? You're gonna risk being comfortable because you're number one, or are you going to say, you know what, let me take a risk and take a new course, right? A lot of people they get in this comfortable mode because they think that they don't have to do anything, and that will alleviate the risk, but it doesn't. Doing nothing, as I stated earlier, is actually the biggest risk that you can ever take. Okay, so let's talk about someone that I always discuss, guys, because when I talk about this lady, in my opinion, this should be all the inspiration, motivation, and gas you need to take off and do your thing. Okay, let's get into it. Harriet Tupman, y'all know I love me some Harriet. You know why I love Harriet, y'all. Harriet ran away with only a purpose. There was no GPS. You know, Harriet was a slave, she didn't have a map, a Google. You know that lady didn't know how to read stars, she didn't have formal education, but what she decided was, or what she had was a decision, and she realized some people never accept doing nothing and just staying on the plantation, that was a bigger risk than leaving. So she got up out of there, she ran, she took the risk, and guess what? Because she took the risk, Harriet Tubman, when she died, and I believe it was in 1920 or 25, it could have been later on, but when Harriet Tubman, a former slave, when she took her risk when she died, Harriet Tubman owned nine acres of land. Harriet Tubman had lived a dream job by being a nurse in the Civil War. Harriet Tubman had won plenty of medals. And guess what Harriet Tubman said? She said, I could have, she said, I could have saved more people, but they didn't know they were slaves. You know what she was saying? They didn't know that the risk of them not doing anything was a bigger risk than them running. Okay, and guess what? Had she not ran and took that risk, we wouldn't even know who she is today. Harriet Tubman would have died, lived and died, just another enslaved person. Okay. That is the reality of risk. Because sometimes the biggest risk that you can take is the is staying exactly where you are. That's the biggest risk. Not doing anything. So now we're gonna break it down. Let's talk about the six types of risk that you're already activated in. Because a lot of people just feel like, oh, I don't have to be bothered with that. I'm not taking a risk, I'm not doing anything, I'm not going anywhere, I'm good where I'm at. Let's talk about it then. Number one, your physical risk. Take care of your body now, or you risk paying for it later. Either way, you're gonna pay. So why not have a daily walk of 15-20 minutes? Why not lift a few weights every day? Right? Number two, political risk. And this is not just voting and national or national vote or national politics. Um, because I always talk to my folks about making changes within your community first. Do community, then state, then we can go federal. Because real change starts on smaller levels. But guess what? If you speak up in politics, you risk criticism. You know, we're living in a time now where people want you to vote like they vote and think like they think, and they instantly will jump on you if you don't. Guess what? But if you stay silent, you risk being controlled. Pick your side. Because either way, it's all a risk. Let's talk about intellectual risk. Challenge your risk, challenge your thinking, and you risk being wrong. Stay comfortable and you risk staying stuck. You remember how in class when they would ask the question, and uh you would get up and say, Oh, you would raise your hand, right? You would raise your hand and say, Oh, I know, I know the answer. At that time, you risk getting the right answer or the wrong answer. Well, one thing that I observed is when you raise your hand, and if you get the wrong answer, two things happen. One, that person now they feel um they feel anxiety because they don't want to get the wrong answer, right? They don't want to try. Why? Because they risk being laughed at. You will move through life thinking you know everything and scared to get it wrong. Nobody has it all figured out. That is one of the most underrated lines of knowledge that anyone can tell you. Nobody has everything together, they don't have it all together, and they don't have everything figured out, but they've decided that they're going to take the risk. Why? Because doing nothing is a larger risk. They want to go see, can I do it? Right? Can I get the degree and get another job? Can I take a certification? That is the bigger risk. And you know, one of the best feelings is specifically on the intellectual side. When you take the risk, regardless if it works out or not, you can still feel proud and bold and say, Hey, at least I tried. At least, you know, at the end of my time, I'm not laying in the bed talking about I shoulda, coulda, woulda. It's too late. This is why you want to go ahead and take the risk. Here's another thing: even if you take the risk of doing it and it does not work out like you wanted it to, there are still pieces of knowledge that you can share with other folks. You know, I was online and there was an African guy, and it's so funny because you know, um, a lot of times, just in culture in general, you know, Africans are known to just be so straightforward with no fluff, no future, and I absolutely love it. But one guy was saying, hey, just because you were a failure your whole life does not mean you cannot be useful in the marketplace. He said, You can be an example of what not to do, right? And they people were cracking up laughing, and it was funny the way the delivery was, but you know what? In thinking about it, even if you say, Hey, I failed at so many things, you could make a living off of helping other people to avoid the pitfalls. Because, see, even though they risked and they messed up all of those times, they have invaluable knowledge that you cannot get by sitting on the porch. This is why a lot of people they just love the image of getting something. This is why you get people that buy stuff that they can't afford, they hang out with people that they don't like. You know why? Because they want that comfortable feeling and they want to avoid the risk of not looking crazy or not looking like they don't know what's going on, right? So they stay comfortable and they risk staying stuck, and a lot of times, unfortunately, I don't I always like to say every day that you wake up, you have the opportunity to make changes in your life. But let's be completely honest here. Sometimes when we're in certain situations, we decrease our chances to do certain things. I'm not saying everything is off the table, but we have to understand that we all have a timeline in life, and every opportunity that we had coming along, some opportunities don't come back around, some do, but sometimes they do not. Okay, let's talk about financial risk. Okay, if you invest, you risk losing money, right? You it you you risk losing money. So think about the people that in um that invested in Facebook or Google earlier. I was looking at another video about a guy that invested in Google earlier on, and guess what, y'all? He pulled his money out because he was scared, the risk he thought he was gonna lose money. Well, we know now Google is a trillion dollar company, so because he didn't want to take the risk of leaving the money there, he took the risk of pulling it out because he didn't want to risk losing money, and guess what? He did lose money way more than he could ever put it in, right? Financial risk. Okay, so if you don't invest or if you don't save, you risk staying broke. It's just like people that say, Well, dang, I can only um I gotta use all my money for right now. I I can't worry about the future. That's fine and Danny to have that philosophy. But if you don't put a few coins back, if something happens, now you risk running around trying to scrape things together. Why? Because you didn't want to take the risk of saving a few coins for the future. Okay, so let's be clear because we're in a time now where people love to talk about wealthy folks, okay? They love to jump down on wealthy people, but at the end of the day, majority of wealthy people are people that took a risk, and when you start talking bad about wealthy people, when you have similar opportunities, you're really a hater. This is why, as black sheep, don't ever find yourself or even be in the company of people that want to talk about wealthy folks, these are people that took a risk, especially if they are founders. See what I'm saying? Jeff Bezos drove a 1995 Honda Accord, and he had a door as his desk for a long time. He took the risk, he took the risk. So when we fast forward now and we hear people talking about the yacht that he got, talking about the things that he's doing in 1995, he took the risk. Where were the commentators then? They were nowhere, you know where they were, wherever they were at, trying to avoid taking the risk and what being comfortable. Let's talk about social risk. If you be yourself as a black sheep, you risk being an outsider. But the cool part about being a black sheep is we already were outsiders, anyway. So forget about it, right? Because if you want to fit in, you risk losing your identity, right? Be yourself, you won't risk judgment, and guess what? There is a certain freedom that comes in just being yourself, emotional risk. You open up, you risk getting hurt. A lot of times, as black sheep, we go through so much with people, man. It's really sad, you know, and we be authentic with folks. Um we really think they're our friends, we think they're in our corner, and come to find out they absolutely are not in our corner, right? And sometimes it'll put you in a position where you shut down, you're gonna close up. But guess what? If you stay close, you risk never living fully and meeting people that could actually love you the way you want to be loved. I always tell you guys, do not let your past paralyze you. Take the lessons from the past and use them to propel you to a better prepared future. Because staying closed and cutting everybody off and never letting anybody in that's a slow death. And here's the truth that most people avoid you're already taking risks, you just choosing the ones that feel safe, and they keep you stuck. Now, let's get strategic here, okay? Because you don't eliminate risk, there's no way you can do it. However, what you do is you manage it, and here's one of the simplest frameworks from Nito Quibin. He is a billionaire and he's been in the inspirational space for a while. But he says there's three questions that he always asks himself about making a decision as far as the risk. Number one, what's the best possible outcome that this me taking this risk can bring? What is the best possible outcome, right? Number two, what is the likely thing that will happen? What will probably happen, right? When you get on that percentile scale, 100%, 80% chance, this is probably what will happen. Okay. And the last question that he asks is what is the worst that could happen? And can you recover from it? That's it. Those are the three questions that he asks himself on a regular basis when it comes to taking risks. And study shows that structured thinking, like these three questions that Nito asks himself, this improves decision making significantly. Because everything is about making the decision to move you forward andor closer to what you want to do. That's why I always tell you guys when you're listening to things, you're talking to people, advice or anything, you can ask yourself simply is this moving forward? Is this moving me forward towards the thing that I want, or is it moving me farther away? Okay, now let's simplify risk management so that fear isn't controlling you. Okay, first, whatever that thing is that you're thinking about doing, let's say, for instance, we're gonna take the um let's take the analogy of you're moving away, all right. The first thing you want to do is you want to get informed, you want to get informed about the area that you're thinking about moving to, because fear thrives in ignorance, and the more you understand something, the less power you have it has over you, okay. So get informed. What's going on with that area? What type of jobs do they have? Uh, what is their pay scale in that area? Are there any cities outside of that area that I could drive to? Okay, what are the risks getting informed about that particular thing? Number two, start to build on the information that you've learned before you jump in all the way, right? So, for an example, most people before they move to an area, they'll do one or two things, they will start to apply for jobs. They say, you know what? Before I go and jump into this thing, before I relocate, let me do one or two things, let me apply for some jobs and see how that comes out. And then if I really want to go, if I can, let me save up some money before I go. So maybe I don't find the exact job that I'm looking for right away, but guess what? I'll be good for about three months. So, hey, it's all good either way. I'll something will come, something will come up for me. Okay, because you build systems, you've prepared yourself. That's how you start to take calculated risks. But here's the third one, here's the third risk, or the third way to mitigate the risk, align your risk with your life purpose. See, I told you guys, you know, a lot of things about purpose. We talked about that particular episode and multiple other episodes, even when I talked about your vision. But when you understand what your main why is, so for an example, you might say, I'm moving to this other state, and why? Because I want my kids to have better have access to better education. So when you start looking at that risk and you say, Do this align with my purpose? This state, this city, they have wonderful educational programs, right? Because not every risk is yours to take, but when you're aligned, when you start to align things with your purpose and your vision, you stop chasing everything, you're not trying to be a part of what trends, and you start building something that's aligned with your life purpose. Okay, so let's bring it home. You are either going to take the risk of building a life that you actually want at the end of the day, or you're going to risk living the life that was assigned to you. There's no middle ground. This is why a lot of times, if you go to different uh places of employment and you know you're living your life on purpose, right? You're getting information like this because you know no matter what, you can change your life. But you meet these people, they just nasty, right? You know why they're nasty? Because they have decided to live a life that was assigned to them, and now they feel that they're stuck. They're not stuck, but they're not willing to take the risk because there is no middle ground. You either take the risk of living the life you want, or you you risk living a life that somebody else gives you. It is what it is, and here's the thing: don't think doing nothing just sitting there is safe. It's just like I was talking to a professor and he was talking about how bodies of water that does not have any movement, they collect all types of bacteria, all types of bacteria and germs, and you know why? Because there's no movement there. Okay, so don't think doing nothing is safe. And I know good and well, as a black sheep, you're not waiting on no damn perfect politician of any kind to come save you. I want you to understand, my black sheep family, the world is changing, technology is moving faster than ever before, and people who refuse to adapt, they get left behind, period. Point blank. Not because they were not capable, but because they didn't move, they decided to sit like that body of water that does nothing. So the question is simple what risk are you choosing? Because either way, you're choosing one of them, you're choosing some risk. So why not put yourself in the driver's seat and choose the risk that you want to take and take action on them in the way that you know you can? So here's the black sheep action moves: three of them. Number one, identify the risk you've been avoiding, the thing that you keep putting on, working out, going back to school, getting a certification, moving to a new state, starting another job, looking for another job. That's the one. Identify it. Number two, run the three-part risk test, the best case, most likely, and the worst case. Now, decide from clarity. See, when you decide from clarity, you've done your research, that's not fear. Clarity is a thing that gives you the confidence to make the best move, your next move. And number three, like I said, take one calculator step. Not next week, guys. Start right now. See, the enemy loves it when you take information in and don't do nothing with it. He'll give you information all day long. But there's something that happens in your mind and your in your brain in your energy when you start taking action, and you know what happens, your confidence goes up. Why? Because you know when you align things with your purpose, at the end of the day, whether it works out or not, from that decision, it will work out in the end. Something will continue to come my way because you have decided, you have decided to live a life on purpose and take calculated risk to level up. Okay, because action kills fear faster than thinking ever will. All right. Now, listen, if this episode hit, it's time to stop waiting and start building something real. Tap into the free masterclass, build a plan and not a wish list. Because clarity without execution is just procrastination with good intentions. Until next time, remember information is everywhere, but execution is rare. I'm your girl Athena Renee, and I'm signing off.