Sometimes You Just Gotta Say WTF
It’s Risky Business to say WTF - but so worth it.
One of my favorite phrases is WTF (usually not the PG version), and my favorite time to say it is when I’ve been thinking about doing something risky. Typically it’s not as risky as it feels - typically my biggest risks are losing my comfort and pride. But saying WTF has a way of catapulting me into something new and uncertain.
For those of us who remember Risky Business, there’s the famous scene that starts with Joel saying he doesn’t want to make a mistake and jeopardize his future, and then his friend says, “Every now and then, say WTF. WTF gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future.”
I know how Joel feels at the beginning of that scene, don’t you? …Those moments when we are faced with an opportunity that could be a mistake and it feels like we’re putting our future at risk.
So how do we channel those moments into a something that gives freedom and can be an opportunity to make our future?
First, think of all the reasons to do it and all the reasons not to.
Then if reason tells you not to do it but your gut tells you to go for it, then drop it, leave it, and leap.
Drop It. Drop your pride, hesitation, worries, self-doubt, practicality, comfort, what you believe you can and can’t do.
Leave it. Don’t let doubt creep in. Stick with your decision. Leave doubt behind you so you can leap.
Leap. Commit to it with certainty and faith. Then follow through.
You can apply this process to any move you’ve wanted to make but haven’t yet: giving that presentation, asking for a raise, booking that vacation, making that career move, leading that project, etc.
There’s one pitfall to those pivotal moments when you can say WTF: if you do it when you’re angry, resentful, or trying to prove to someone else that you can, you’ll bring baggage and you’ll never get the freedom that’s supposed to come with this leap of faith. So when you find yourself in a potent WTF moment, take that leap with good spirit - with kindness and respect for yourself and others. This will catapult you to freedom and opportunity to make your future.
Published in ThriveGlobal, 2018.
