Right Risk: 10 Powerful Principles for Taking Giant Leaps with Your Life

Do you have a fear of heights? Are you afraid of fire? Could you learn to dive from a hundred foot tower while your body was aflame? Despite having both of those fears, author Bill Treasurer successfully completed 1500 high dives (including hundreds while on fire) from sixty to one hundred feet over seven years. That experience helped him develop an understanding of how to overcome our fears when it makes sense for us to go ahead. The cover features a vivid demonstration of his experience. His diving provides a moving metaphor for each of us identifying our most limiting fears . . . and overcoming them to live our personal value systems. While many books talk about fear and overcoming it, this one is special in that it does a better job than usual in explaining why some seek out dangerous risks and others avoid minor risks that could be life-transforming. I particularly liked Mr. Treasurer's argument that in a world where people primarily evaluate themselves and others by externals we become obsessed with one-upping ourselves and others for the temporary "high" that brings. Trouble is . . . we then need to do it again. Why not evaluate oneself by inner measures instead such as operating with integrity in terms of one's values? It can be a lot more frightening to do that than to jump from the top of a tall platform while burning! The book suggests ten principles and their related practices for taking the right risk: Become reacquainted with yourself (find your golden silence); break out of the mold (defy inertia); plan how you will overcome your fears to pursue worthy risks (write your risk scripts; build emotional incentives to change (turn on the risk pressure); put yourself where you have to perform (put yourself on the line); use your fear to help (make your fear work for you); develop your courage (have the courage to be courageous); accept your flaws (be perfectly imperfect); break through nominal boundaries (trespass continuously); and show your true colors to others (expose yourself). Each principle has its own chapter along with riveting questions to help you focus on what you need to do. I was especially impressed by the life scripts that most people use to define what they can and cannot do. I'm sure that Mr. Treasurer makes good use of these scripts to help his coaching clients. Like the best self-help books, Mr. Treasurer is very candid about his own limitations. He makes important revelations about how he has struggled in relationships and in living with his beliefs in other areas that will help empower you to see how difficult it is to raise up and address these issues. Nice job!

In a word, Bill Treasurer's "Right Risk" is a gem. At once practical and soulful, it underscores the importance of taking risks and presents a guide for making wise, courageous choices. I took its message to heart. Now I'm making gutsier decisions that are rewarding me in spades, personally and professionally. If you're serious about growing and prospering, this book is for you. I highly recommend it.

When I first saw the cover of this book, which features Bill Treasurer at the top of a high dive on fire as "Capatin Inferno," I wondered if I'd get much out of it. I wanted to learn about taking risks, but I already knew I had no interest in doing something dangerous. As it turns out, this was exactly the book I was looking for. Bill spells out in 10 beautifully written chapters how one goes about assessing risks and deciding when and how it makes sense to approach a new situation or even create one. The tips make a lot of sense but it's Treasurer's gift for organization of thought and his specific insight into each tip that make the book work. Don't be fooled into thinking that you can't possibly have something in common with a man who used to light himself on fire and jump into a small pool of water. That's an extreme example of Bill's background and thought process. The truth is, his background as a consultant and entrepreneur give him even more credibility than his days as a diver. The combination of all of these things is what makes him insightful, entertaining, and even wise. My book is covered in yellow highlighted sentences. I keep it on my night stand and find it helpful to randomly select pages from it when I need to be reminded that my own risks, well taken, will be rewarded.

We live in interesting--and exciting--times. While tremendous opportunities are placed before us, we are also surrounded (and influenced) by unparalleled uncertainty. Practically everything in our lives seems fraught with risk. Is this the right thing to do? Is this the right time? Questions! Questions!Wouldn't it be nice to get some solid advice from a risk taker who knows what he's talking about? Bill Treasurer understands risk--from a variety of perspectives. He's a consultant-who formed his practice during a weak economy. Risk. Prior to that, he was a corporate executive with income in the six-figure range, yet he took the big leap of going into business for himself. From 1984-1991 he traveled the world as a member of the United States High Diving Team, performing some 1500 dives from heights over 100 feet (think ten story building). For years, he was also known as the fire-diving superhero, Captain Inferno. He dove dressed in a costume with a cape drenched in gasoline. With the strike of a match, he was transformed into a flying human torch. Risk.You don't have to leap from tall buildings to take risks. They're all around us. The key, Treasurer asserts, is taking the right risks at the right time for the right reasons. His ten principles about risk taking, each presented in a separate chapter, guide readers through a process of evaluating the risks, obstacles, and the process to overcome fear and doubt in the right way. Each chapter presents one of Treasurer's principles, illustrated with anecdotes from his life and risk-taking experiences of others. Good stuff--highly readable, educational and thought-provoking. Each of the principle chapters concludes with a set of questions to stimulate additional thinking and assessment. The closing statements of the book-the final chapter-emphasize the critical importance of being authentic. Kidding yourself is the biggest risk of all. Treasurer shares some valuable philosophies that put risk and its ramifications into perspective. The book includes a good notes section and a surprisingly comprehensive index. As you consider all the risks that lie in your path-in work, your personal life, family endeavors, and so much more, the advice in this book will serve you well.

The Right Risk is right on target for anyone who wants to change their life for the better. Not only does the book provide a practical methodology for preparing to take the right risk, but it also provides a great deal of insight and motivation for those who are not accustomed to taking risks. The book helped me to gain a new found confidence in taking risks, while aiding me in starting my new business. Don't judge this book by its cover- it is entertaining, yet a serious life-changing catalyst! Well done Bill Treasurer.