Swallow Your Fear

Navigating risky situations teaches you about yourself, increases your self-confidence, and helps you better manage life's inevitable uncertainties.

By Jessica DuLong, published on November 01, 2006 - last reviewed on May 25, 2008

Beyond developing self-confidence, physical risk taking can actually stretch your very identity. As Carthage College sociology professor Stephen Lyng explains it, risk taking jumpstarts people who feel pushed along through life in limited, prescribed roles. Self-determination in the face of uncertainty helps develop a strong sense of self. "It comes from having to improvise a response to the challenge at hand," says Lyng. "Once you are in the realm of uncertainty, anything is possible in terms of how you think about yourself." When we're confronted with this kind of "experiential anarchy," he explains, we're able to see how the patterns in our everyday lives may be holding us back.

The best way to reap the benefits of physical risk taking is to make it a habit. "The more practice you have in situations where you have to make rapid decisions with great consequence, the more likely you are to be able to act rather than freeze," says Cline. This is the idea behind all sorts of training, from CPR to fire drills to combat maneuvers.

Physical risk taking also trains you to cope in a crisis. "Taking risks is a reminder that nothing is certain," says Cline. "In everyday life, people often create these little illusions of safety, but when the veil is pulled back you realize how uncertain the world really is. Instead of living in fear that one day the curtain will be pulled aside, it makes sense to learn the skills you need to combat uncertainty."

Your Courage Quotient

There are three kinds of people, says kinesiologist Michael Gass: risk avoiders, risk reducers, and risk optimizers.

If you're an avoider, step out of your comfortable routine. You might try indoor rock climbing, canoeing in a river with a spot or two of white water, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing.
If you're a reducer, push yourself a little further. A strenuous high-altitude hike, scuba diving, or a night camping solo in the desert could take it up a notch.
And if you're an optimizer, keep at it. Make physical risk taking a lifelong pursuit, and keep challenging yourself in new ways. Try BASE jumping, hang gliding, or helicopter skiing.