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HOW GUTSY ARE YOU

Are you an adventure-loving kind of guy, or is your idea of a big risk not guaranteeing a hotel room for late arrival? Is there a thrill seeker hidden inside that buttoned-down exterior of yours? Take this quiz to see if you’re Miquetoast or a maniac.
There is no right or wrong answers here, nor is any score better than another. Circle only one letter per question. Answer all questions. If no answer feels exactly right to you, pick the one that’s closest.
1. During the past ten years, how often have you changed residence?
a. 10 times or more
b. 5-9 times
c. 2-4 times
d. 0-1 times
2. Which adjective best describes your behavior before age 12?
a. hyperactive
b. mischievous
c. basically well behaved
d. very well behaved
3. In an average week, how many hours of TV do you watch?
a. 0-5
b. 6-10
c. 11-20
d. more than 20
4. How often do you tape shut already-sealed envelopes before mailing them?
a. almost never
b. seldom
c. often
d. regularly
5. When eating Chinese food, how often do you use chopsticks?
a. regularly
b. often
c. seldom
d. almost never
6. On highways, how often do you drive faster than 65 mph?
a. regularly
b. often
c. seldom
d. almost never
7. If you were living on the East Coast a century ago, do you think you would have joined a wagon train headed west?
a. definitely
b. probable
c. probably not
d. definitely not
8. Suppose you had equal competence at any one of the following activities. Which would appeal to you most?
a. skydiving
b. mountain climbing
c. producing a play
d. building a house
Assume that you are equally skilled in all of the activities listed below. For each set, pick the one that you would most enjoy. (If neither activity appeals to you, pick the one that’s least unappealing.)
9.     a. driving a dune buggy
b. hiking in the desert
10.   a. skiing down a steep slope
b. ski touring through woods

11.   a. scuba diving
b. snorkeling
Circle the letter for the word that best describes your reaction to the following activities.
12. Building a cabinet
a. tedious
b. satisfying
13. Climbing rocks
a. exhilarating
b. scary
14. Attending a rock concert
a. arousing
b. jarring
15. Teaching school
a. boring
b. challenging
16. With a report due at work in two weeks, you would be most likely to:
a. start working on it the day before it’s due, then stay up most of the night completing it
b. work hard on the report for a day or two befor it’s due
c. start working on it during the second week
d. budget time throunghout the two weeks to produce the report
17. In general, you prefer the company of:
a. prople you’ve recently met
b. professional colleagues, co-workers or fellow members of aclub or church
18. Which opportunity sounds more appealing to you?
a. starting your own business
b. purchasing a successful business
19. Which statement describes you better?
a. I get bored easily
b. When necessary, I can tolerate routine
20. What kinds of risks would you say are hardest for you to take?
a. commitment risks (nes involving long-term involvement with a person, faith, activity or career)
b. emotional risks (in relationships, or showing my feelings)
c. financial risks (of losing money)
d. physical risks (of life and limb)

Then see “Scoring,” on http://www.taketworisks.com/scoring

Posted 30 August 2009 † admin § Take Two Risks ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

THE FOREIGN LEGION?

So maybe you’re the kind of guy who likes to avoid the unexpected. You always keep a spare car key in a magnetic case under your bumper. You never leave the house without an umbrella. You wouldn’t dream of tearing the label off a mattress. You know what to do about it. Should you take up hang gliding? Plan a scuba trip to the shark feeding grounds off the Great Barrier Reef?
Probably not, says Dr. Farley. “Many men dream of breaking out of their everyday roles and becoming super-risk-taking heroes overnight, but it doesn’t happen very often,” he says. “you change by taking small steps into the unknown.”
He suggests starting with minor changes. Identify some of your long-held fears and begin pushing them. If you’re a creature of habit who always eats at the same restaurants, make it a point to try some new ones. Instead of going on your usual vacation, ask your travel agent about adventure packages, Add variety to your sex life by experimenting with new places and positions. If you can’t face a fear head on, try taking risks in another part of your life. “I’ve always wanted to be a stand-up comic, but I could never get up the nerve,” admits Keyes. “Instead I went rock climbing and risked my neck. It was scary, but I was less frightened of that than of getting booed off a stage.”
Given the lack of objective standards, how do you decide if a risk is worth taking? Ask yourself what you have to gain if you’re successful and what you have to lose if you’re not. Dabbling in the stock market is an acceptable risk if you have a few spare dollars; learning to drive a race car with a certified instructor is more likely to thrill you than kill you. On the other hand, going for a spin in your Delta 88 when you’ve got a bellyful of wine is just dangerous and stupid. (Dr. Farley calls drinking and driving and other purely reckliss behaviors T-negative.)
What if you take a risk and fail? Big deal. According to Keyes, the biggest losers are those who never took risks in the first place. He tells of a sky diver who spent a year in the hospitalafter falling 2,000 feet when his chute failed to open. “Sure, he regretted the accident, but he didn’t regret skydiving, and he was ready to go u again.” Likewise, people who start businesses that fail, audition for parts tey don’t get or become deeply involved in relationships that don’t pan out are usually proud of themselves for making the effort. “There’s a sense of satisfaction in taking a risk-win or lose-that can’t be found any other way,” Keyes says. “People who choose not to take important risks often have deep regrets, almost to the point of mourning.”

Posted 29 August 2009 † admin § Take Two Risks ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

FEAR OF FAILING

Fear is what makes us avoid risk, run away from challenges, play it safe. We fo it to spare ourselves failure, embarrassment, bankruptcy, injury or death. But, says Dr. Farley, “There’s nothing more empowering for a man than to meet his fears and overcome them.” His studies show that risk takers are more self-confident, energetic, creative and independent than less daring men.
In nearly every high-risk sport, the mastery of fear comes up repeatedly as the principal reward for engaging in it. The deeper the fear, the bigger the thrill when you cnquer it. One study found that the more frightened sky divers were while going up in a plane, the more exhilarated thay felt when they parachuted safety to the ground.
According to Ralph Keyes, author of the book Chancing It: Why We Take Risks, that rush is delivered by natural opiate-like body chemicals that kick in during a stressful experience. “It’s nature’s way of rewarding us for taking chances,” he says.
Keyes, who interviewed nearly a thousand T-Types for his book, says some people bcome addicted to that chemical kick and look for ever-more-challenging ways to keep it coming. A predisposition to thrill seeking, he adds, may even be genetic.

Posted 28 August 2009 † admin § Take Two Risks ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

RISK BUILDS CHARACTER

RISK BUILDS CHARACTER
Not only is this fun, it’s good for me. Experts who have studied risk taking say it develops character and courage, extends creativity, boosts confidence and helps establish a sense of limitations and possibilities. They say that if you don’t allow yourself some conscious risks, you may be more likely to take unconscious ones such as driving too fast, drinking too much, picking fights or gambling away money, relationships or a job.
“It’s important ot take risks to experience life,” says Frank Farley, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin. “If you don’t expose yourself to new experiences and new ideas, you remain the same. And change is a very important part of personal growth.”
Dr. Farley, who coined the term T-Type personality ot describe people who love risks, says you don’t have to run out and sign up for a course in rattlesnake wrestling to get a charge. “Anytime you can overcome a fear or meet a challenge and not run from it, it strengthens you as a person,” he says. Dr. Farley considers healthy risk taking to be anything to which the outcome is uncertain. This includes not only obvious stuff like bungee jumping and rock climbing but also psychological and financial risks like starting a business investing in he stock market or changing careers.
In fact, only the risk taker himself can determine what’s risky. Some of us choose to take risks in one part of our lives but not in another. The defining element is fear. There’s no thrill-and no real risk-without that. When Phillipe Petit, the acrobat who walked a wire between the World Trade Center towers, was asked about his feat, he said that balancing 110 stories above ground without a net wasn’t all that scary for him.
What did he consider risky?
Spiders, snakes…and getting married, he replied. He’d rather do 10,000 backward somersaults on a high wire than get married and have kids.

Posted 27 August 2009 † admin § Take Two Risks ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Take Two Risks and Call Me in the Morning

There’s nothing more empowering for a man than to meet his fears and overcome them. So take some risks now and then. The doctor says it will be good for you.
By most accounts, my college roommate was a conservative fellow. He voted for Reagan, preferred playing the piano to partying and was usually asleep by 11:00 P.M. He appeared to be the embodiment of dullness and predictability. But one Saturday morning, while I was still in bed trying to determine the molecular weight of a can of Budweiser, he burst into the room with a smug grin on his face. “I just jumped out of a plane at 10,000 feet,” he said. “I’m going to do it again tomorrow. Wanna try it?”
I politely declined. I’ve never been that crazy about the idea of riding in airplanes, let alone leaping out of them. What if the guy who packed my parachute had a really bad hangover that day? What if I landed in the lagoon of a sewage-treatment plant and drowned? Hadn’t I read about that happening to someone a few years ago?
I think I know why my buddy did something so seemingly uncharacteristic, perhaps even foolhardy. He did if because it was uncharacteristic and foolhardy He needed to travel to the edge and dance on it for a while because his life was so otherwise boring and predictable.
Everyone needs some of that risk and excitement. After all, in terms of evolution, we’re been wearing suits and living in split-levels for only a speck of time. Most of our prehistoric past was filled with uncertainty, danger and extreme risks. The people who survived were those who thrived on those risks. We’re their heirs, and that need for a certain amount of risk is still strong in us.
I don’t need airplanes and parachutes to fulfill my adventure quotient; roller coasters do it for me. I get sweaty palms and a flip-flopping stomach just waiting in line. Being strapped in the seat is exquisite agony. By the time I reach the top of the first steep rise, I’m convinced that death is moments away. My heart is in my mouth through the entire ride. When it’s over, I feel…terrific. I’ve spit in the eye of fear, grabbed myself an energizing jolt of adrenaline.

Posted 26 August 2009 † admin § Take Two Risks ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: