According to Chinese Astrology, 2018 Year of the Dog is kind of bad luck. The good news: circumstances are what you make of them. Get your feed on and strengthen your risk-taking muscles when eating your dim sum, sushi, or steaming bowl of pho with chopsticks. Here’s how:
1. The next time you have an opportunity to learn how to eat with chopsticks or brush up your technique, ditch the fork. This choice will reinforce your belief that you can accomplish what you set out to do, even if you can’t envision how you’re going to do it.
2. Approach the chopsticks knowing that reward may not be immediate; you will probably not transform from novice to master in two bites. In other words, be willing to make mistakes. Mistakes help to sharpen your next steps. They don’t prove that you shouldn’t try again.
3. Be open to discovery and surprises, such as the bottom chopstick doesn’t move. Surprise! Only the top one does. This is practice for letting go of “right” and “wrong” ways of risk taking, allowing the steps toward success to reveal themselves as you go.
4. Don’t worry about what others think as you try this new skill. Chances are no one is waiting for you to make a fool of yourself. Even if someone is, an essential part of risk taking is moving forward despite the opinions of others.
5. Practice: Eat your meal with chopsticks right there in the restaurant or at the dinner party. Afterward, take a pair of chopsticks with you and use them for meals prepared at home. This will reinforce what you’ve learned so it comes naturally to you.
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For more on How to Take Risks to Create the Life You Want, the illustrated gift book, The Lesson of the Chopsticks is available on Amazon!