On taking Chances at Work and in Tennis

Recently. I caught up on some reading and finished "Nice Girls Still Don't Get the Corner Office." The author was an avid tennis player and used the analogy of taking risks. She talked about how women don't take risks in the game of tennis (for fear of losing the point) and at work (afraid of taking chances/messing up a project); they only hit to the middle of the court (only do what is expected/told). On reflection of this chapter, I was reminded of two situations from my college days.

My junior year of college, I was fortunate to work with a coach at the Mizzou Tennis Complex. One of the things we worked on was taking risks on the court and hitting angles. With the Mizzou Girls practicing on the next court over as my motivation, the amount of balls that landed in the strategically placed hoppers increased as winter turned into spring. I miss practicing with Brandon and Majorie but I will carry the lessons learned at Green into other aspects of life.

Lastly, I was reminded of a match on a warm Friday night in early September 2016. It was 9:00 p.m. and I was complacently hitting balls back. At the conclusion of the first set, I was confronted with, "Do you have a plan? " I took more risks by hitting to the edge in the second set and ultimately lost it; although, I did come back to win the tiebreak.

With these scenarios under my belt, I've learned that taking risks can sometimes yield worthwhile results both in work and on the court. Here's to widening the playing field and taking risks!! I hit with a ball machine regularly and think about the risks in life.