You know you could be making $10K months. Maybe even $15K+ months. You have the skills, the certifications, the passion to help people. But something keeps holding you back.
Maybe you’re charging way less than you know you’re worth. Maybe you’re staying quiet about your services with people who already know, like, and trust you—like friends and family—because what if they judge you for this new direction?
Maybe you’re overthinking every single decision in your business. Should you extend your program from six months to nine? Should you market in person or online? Should you post a Reel or a carousel today?
There are so many reasons we stay quiet, stay small, or hide in our safe little bubble. But here’s the truth: having a low risk tolerance—especially for failure and disappointment—is the reason you’re stuck at $2K months when it could be $10K, $15K, or more.
Today, we’re talking about what it means to have more capacity for risk, how to increase your tolerance for calculated risks, and why this skill (yes, it’s a learnable skill, not a personality trait) is essential for building a sustainable, profitable wellness business.
What Low Risk Tolerance Actually Looks Like in Your Wellness Business
I’m willing to bet you’re doing at least one—maybe even three—of these things right now. No judgment or shame here. I’ve been there. I’ve done all of these myself.
Sign #1: You’re Charging Way Less Than You’re Worth
Let me be clear about what this means. An “aligned price” is the price where you wake up thinking, “This is a no-brainer. I know I can help people get incredible results at this price. I can confidently market this everywhere because I believe it’s an amazing deal and worth every single penny and more.”
That’s an aligned price today. And guess what? You could sign one client at that price today, then wake up tomorrow and realize, “Nope, this is too low now. I need to raise it.”
When you’re charging less than you’re worth, it means you wake up knowing your price is too low, but you keep it there anyway because raising it feels risky or shaky. You don’t really have a logical reason why. You’re just scared.
You’re worried people will say no. You’re worried they’ll think you’re greedy. So you keep your price the same when you really have the potential to raise it and serve clients at a higher level.
I’ve raised my prices many times—both in my brick-and-mortar practice and in my business coaching practice. I always use a pricing meditation and pricing matrix to determine if I’m ready. There’s a free guide with questions you can ask yourself to determine if you’re ready to raise your price.
Right now, for full transparency, I know a price raise is coming for my one-to-one business coaching. But I haven’t raised it yet because I’m still considering and integrating what the offer will look like. It hasn’t felt right yet to just raise the price on the container as it currently is.
I have some ideas for my one-to-one container, but I’m also watching what’s happening with my audience and my ability to create momentum and demand. I’m getting coached on this because I don’t want to add complexity just out of fear of raising the price where it is now.
See the difference? There’s a difference between not being ready to raise your price because you’re still refining your offer versus avoiding raising your price because you’re afraid of the risk.
When I work through all of this with my coaches and through my own self-coaching, it might still feel a little shaky when I’m on consultation calls saying my new price. There will be a growth edge. There will be discomfort. But that’s different than not having an aligned offer I feel ready to market confidently.
Sign #2: You’re Avoiding Being Visible in Your Marketing
I can’t tell you the number of wellness practitioners who tell me: “I’m really comfortable with in-person marketing. I really don’t like online marketing. I don’t like making videos. I don’t like editing. I don’t like being on social media.”
And that’s valid, right? That’s fine.
But here’s what happens most of the time: these same people who say they prefer in-person marketing still don’t do the in-person marketing either.
They’re not creating workshops. They’re not showing up to networking events consistently. When they’re out in public and have the opportunity to make an offer to someone they could help, they don’t.
What happens is that most practitioners feel uncomfortable with marketing in general—both in-person and online—because there’s vulnerability involved. So they don’t market at all.
And that’s a disservice to the people who need your help because they don’t know you’re available. An invitation wasn’t made. They didn’t feel invited to work with you, so they just turned around and walked away.
I love helping my clients develop an in-person marketing strategy and lean heavy on that if online isn’t their jam. My client Rachel went from $3-5K months to consistent five-figure months, including many $12K, $13K, and $18K months. She only shows up on Instagram when she really feels called to. (You can go back to past episodes to hear her full story.)
We are working on showing up a bit more so her account is current and up-to-date, because people do look at Instagram when they’re comparing practitioners and looking at websites to get a vibe. But her primary marketing strategy is in-person.
I’ve also had clients like Dana who found a sustainable Instagram schedule. We reduced the time it takes her to create Reels from 90 minutes down significantly—or if she’s going to spend 90 minutes creating content, she now gets multiple Reels from that time.
She consistently markets in person through workshops and networking with her community, and uses Instagram as another touchpoint to fill those workshops. She’s on track for a six-figure year in her first year of business. Within six months of opening, she was hitting $7-9K months using that combination strategy.
But the key is: she actually markets. Rachel actually markets too—mostly in person.
You have to be honest with yourself. If you don’t want to lean heavy on online marketing, investigate why. Because it’s free, and you can do it in 15-20 minute pockets of time from your couch at home in your pajamas. You don’t have to be on your phone all the time. You don’t have to post every single day. And you can bring positivity to the platform, which is very much needed.
But if you still want to focus on in-person marketing, that’s fine—but are you really showing up? What’s on your calendar? How many offers have you made in the last few days? That could be the real reason you’re stuck at $2-4K months.
Sign #3: You’re Overthinking Every Decision
You overthink every decision because a wrong choice feels dangerous—like you’re going to blow up your business.
Should you extend your program from six months to nine months? If you have a four-month program but you offer functional labs, should you reduce the number of one-to-one calls because you spend a lot of time writing reports and going over labs?
Should you market in person or online? Should you do a Reel or a carousel today?
There are so many decisions—big and small—that you’re going to make in your business every single day that you choose to show up and work. The faster you get at making decisions, the faster you’re going to get more things done with less energy leaks and less brain spinning.
Yes, there might be discomfort. Yes, you might fail. That’s often the true reason you’re not making a decision. But if you know you’re afraid of failing or feeling disappointment, shame, or guilt over making the wrong decision, and you can feel any of those emotions—that’s the worst that’s going to happen.
You just have to support yourself through it, or have a community or coach to help support you through it.
The faster you get at making decisions, the better you get at trusting yourself to make decisions. And the more business acumen you’ll develop because you’re making decisions and learning from them. You’re going to grow a lot faster.
Evaluate for yourself: Am I taking a long time to make every single decision, and why?
Sign #4: You’re Keeping Your Day Job Longer Than You Need To
Big caveat here: if you have a nervous system that’s prone to worry, fears, and anxiety like mine, having a job or having substantial savings that gives you a cushion is huge. It creates more sufficiency and safety in your business because you’ll spend less time worrying and less time spinning in a contracted, unregulated state.
Please, please, please keep your job if this is you.
That’s one thing I wish I had done differently. I was let go from my job with no plans to start a business. I had just come off maternity leave. My husband and I had very little savings—just a few hundred dollars in the bank.
When I made the decision to start my business and take on the requests I was getting from a back bedroom in our house (a spare yoga/guest room we turned into my office), I knew I had to be profitable right off the bat. That caused a lot of hustle in my business.
It took me a while to heal my nervous system and trust that I could bring in enough money to pay the bills. If I could go back, I would have built my business while I had a job, or at least had a lot more in savings and worked on mindset things first.
So if any of that resonates—if you need your job for nervous system regulation—don’t listen to the rest of this section. Keep your job and move forward.
But if you’re the person who has enough in savings and you’re just keeping the job “just in case,” even though it’s draining you because quitting feels risky… Or what if your business fails? Or what if you can’t support yourself even though you have six months to a year of savings?
Maybe you’re working 50 hours a week and you don’t really need to. You could work 20 hours a week and spend more time in your business, but you’re trying to do both and burning yourself out.
That’s an area you want to really reflect on and examine—and get coaching on—because you don’t want to burn yourself out trying to keep all the hours at your day job and build your business at the same time, especially if you’re already busy with clients and you have the savings to take the leap.
Sign #5: You’re Giving Away Too Many Free Sessions
Any price—asking people to pay feels uncomfortable, awkward, or weird. What if they can’t afford it? What if they say no? So working for free just feels more comfortable.
But here’s the truth: over time, you’re going to burn yourself out or grow to resent your clients because you’re not getting paid for your time.
Now, in the beginning—if you’re just starting out, adding a new certification, or completely changing your niche—there are times when you might offer free or discounted sessions.
One of my clients works with people moving from Italy to America, and she’s a life guide for them. She was developing her one-to-one offer and program and wanted to get a few people through it to gain confidence and get testimonials. I agreed, but we put a time limit on it: five people, three sessions each. Those five people got three sessions, then that was it. Then she started charging at a price we decided she felt in alignment with.
At some point, you have to step into that growth edge of asking people to pay for your expertise.
What’s Actually Happening: Your Nervous System Is Screaming “Danger!”
Here’s what’s happening with any of these examples: Your nervous system is screaming “danger!”
Your brain literally cannot tell the difference between posting on Instagram or making an offer about your services and being chased by a bear. To your nervous system, both feel like life-or-death situations. It’s just unconscious. You’re not aware of it. You just know that you don’t like it, it feels uncomfortable, or you don’t want to do it. There’s a yucky feeling in your body, so you avoid it.
But here’s the kicker: The people who are more successful in their practices and businesses have learned how to lean into those uncomfortable emotions.
This has been my big work over the last few years. When I experience failure, I tell myself, “Okay, I’m feeling disappointment right now. I’m bummed. This didn’t work out the way I would like.” I go over why, and I support myself through it.
Because of that work, I’m able to lean into uncomfortable emotions. I’m able to recognize what’s going on so I can show up and take the risk. And I’ve also thought through things logically.
When you’re developing your risk tolerance, there’s both strategic and logical work—using your frontal brain, reasoning, preparing, having a plan. And there’s also the mindset work: How can you regulate yourself? Or how can you acknowledge that you will be unregulated during times when you’re taking risks, but then how will you re-regulate and support yourself after?
That’s really the solution.
Traditional business advice sometimes says things like “just go for it” or “feel the fear and do it anyway.” There’s even that saying “gag and go.”
However, if you have a really sensitive nervous system or you’re very intuitive—if you’re a nervous system-aware practitioner—your nervous system needs acknowledgement. It needs evidence that it’s safe and okay to take the risks.
That’s why I love having both the logical reasoning and strategic game plan that provides structure (and sometimes sufficiency, like having savings for potential nos, which softens the risk) as well as the mindset work.
Three Strategies to Build Your Risk Tolerance
Strategy #1: Micro Risk Stacking
Start with tiny risks that feel manageable. Make small decisions:
- Today I’m going to make a Reel over a carousel
- Today I’m going to post an Instagram Story
- I’m going to write an email, and here’s the topic
Start with tiny risks that feel manageable. Collect evidence over time that you survived them—or you might have gotten it wrong, but it’s okay. The whole house of cards didn’t fall down.
Then gradually increase your risk level. This retrains your nervous system through experience, not willpower.
Strategy #2: Risk-to-Reward Clarity
Get crystal clear on what you’re actually risking versus what you stand to gain.
Write down what you’re actually losing by staying exactly where you are—not making a change. For example, not raising your price, not changing your offer, not making offers at all.
Then write down what’s possible if you actually made the change.
Often, just writing it on paper allows your logical brain to say, “Oh! Oh, I see it now. I need to lean into the change.”
Or you might say, “Oh yeah, I see it is way too risky right now.” But then you can problem-solve for it. You can build more savings. Or like me, you can work with a coach to figure out an offer you feel really excited about.
Most of the time, you’re not risking nearly as much as your brain thinks you are. When you write it out, you can clearly see the truth.
Strategy #3: Build a Safety Net
Actually create a logical plan or safety structures that allow you to take bigger risks—like leaving your job, reducing your hours, raising your price, or making offers and hearing lots of nos.
Having a secure foundation isn’t playing it small. It’s playing it smart.
This might mean:
- Building 6-12 months of savings before leaving your job
- Keeping your job while you build your business to $5K+ months
- Starting with small price increases to build confidence
- Getting coaching support so you’re not alone when things feel hard
What Happens When You Build Your Risk Tolerance
You Take More Action Instead of Overthinking
When you’re comfortable with risk, you make decisions faster. Instead of spending three months researching the perfect email platform, you pick one and start building your list. Instead of endlessly tweaking your offer, you test it with real clients, get feedback, and improve.
You Become Magnetic to Your Ideal Clients
Confidence is attractive. When you’re willing to be visible, charge premium prices, and make strong offers, you naturally attract clients who respect your expertise and are ready to invest.
When you show up confidently in your marketing and clearly communicate what you do, how you help, and how you’re different, you attract far fewer price shoppers and energy vampires. They filter themselves out.
I can say that’s 100% happened for me.
You Build a Business That You Actually Want
A couple years back, I had to work on this with my coach. She said, “Alison, the whole reason you’re an entrepreneur is to love your business—not because you want to be the worst boss you’ve ever had.”
I was overworking. I needed to create sustainable systems and boundaries.
Building a business you actually want doesn’t mean you’ll never face discomfort. To be successful, there will be failures. You might have to make decisions without a crystal ball to know how they’ll turn out.
But if you’re never making decisions or never taking risks because of the discomfort, that will keep you stuck in survival mode—trading time for money, saying yes to everyone, working all hours.
Having a higher risk tolerance lets you strategically create scalable offers, set boundaries, and design a business for sustainability that you love working in.
I love coming to work. Recently, I met up with some mom friends for happy hour. We were talking about work. One mom was currently out of work and loving the freedom. She said she was hesitant about interviews because she wasn’t in a rush.
Another mom said, “Well, that’s understandable. If we all didn’t have to go to work, that would probably be the preferred decision for everyone.”
I thought about that for a moment, and I quietly said (this is where I work on my own risk tolerance around being visible): “You know, I would keep doing what I’m doing. I feel so fortunate. I love coming to work.”
I love working from home. I love working from my she-shed. (Some people might think it’s crazy, but hey—I’ve built a multiple six-figure business per year from a she-shed. That’s pretty freaking cool.)
I love being able to dictate my own schedule. On Mondays, for example, I pick up my daughter at 2:20, spend time with her, then come back and do another client or two, or work on admin. I have so much flexibility. I take time off for field trips. We’re taking a whole week off for my daughter’s fall break.
I love my business now. Even if I had all the money in the world, I know I’d still be working. It just might look a little different, but it would be very similar to what I’m doing right now.
And you can have that too.
You Make More Money in Less Time
When you’re willing to make bold moves—pitch that workshop, make the offer at the end of the workshop, vulnerably show up online to promote your offer before that workshop—you’re going to get more people reaching out after that workshop wanting to work with you.
You’re going to get more yeses.
My client Betty is a perfect example. She had so much tech overwhelm. (You can go listen to her past episode for more of her story.) We’ve been working session by session through shared screens, teaching her how to build registration pages and connect them to her email software.
She’s been able to teach her first online workshops herself. In fact, she just taught an online workshop with a goal of getting 20 people at $50 each. She got 30 people. That’s $1,500 for two hours of work.
But even better? She was able to sell out her first online group program and got 10 people in there. So that two-hour workshop didn’t just generate $1,500—it generated thousands of dollars in program sales.
Betty showed up in the discomfort. She was nervous about pitching the group program, but we talked through it. She got her emails together, made the offer, and sold it out.
Because it’s a group program—a scalable offer—she can work with people even when they leave her island. She doesn’t have to use her hands for every client. This scalable model brings so much more freedom and flexibility to her business.
And it’s all possible for you too.
Your Action Steps This Week
Today, look at the examples I mentioned in this post. See where you’re not taking risks that you could, and why.
Write it down.
Then implement one of the strategies we talked about:
- Build micro risks and gain experience
- Get crystal clear on what you’re actually risking versus what you stand to gain
- Create plans to build in more of a safety net for yourself
Choose one this week and just go for it. Try it. And if you get stuck, message me. I’m here to help.
But What If You’ve Been Burned Before?
Maybe you’re thinking: “Alison, I’ve been burned before. I took too many risks.”
Yes. And you survived. And I bet you learned a lot from those experiences.
Instead of focusing on the failure, focus on what you learned going forward. The question isn’t whether risks sometimes don’t work out—they do. The question is: What did you win, or what are you learning?
Are you better off taking calculated risks and occasionally failing, or playing it safe and definitely staying stuck?
“But Alison, I have my family depending on me. We need to pay the bills. I can’t afford to take risks.”
You can’t afford NOT to take risks.
And there are so many ways to build actual sufficiency and safety into your business—by staying at your job, maybe even getting a job, building savings so you can take more risks with a cushion.
If you’re like me and you’re not a natural risk-taker by nature, remember: this is a skill, not a personality trait.
You weren’t born knowing how to do massage, physical therapy, or teach yoga either. Yes, maybe some parts came intuitively and naturally, but you had to learn. And you can learn this too.
“What if I take a risk and it doesn’t work?”
Then you collect data, adjust, and try again. You support yourself through the emotions of feeling failure, disappointment, maybe shame.
Every successful entrepreneur has a graveyard of failed decisions, failed launches, risks that didn’t work out. The difference is they kept going.
One failed risk doesn’t define your whole business, and it for sure doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for entrepreneurship.
There’s no one born with the exact skillset needed for entrepreneurship. A lot of it’s learned and developed—sometimes at young ages depending on our parents or situations growing up, and sometimes we learn as we get into entrepreneurship.
But staying safe is what’s keeping you stuck.
Final Thoughts
Notice where your discomfort is and where you might be playing it small. Be honest with yourself.
Then decide what you’re going to do this week—today—to take a little bit more risk, trust yourself, and lean into that discomfort.
Working with me one-to-one is like having Betty’s experience: I help you through all of it. The tech overwhelm. The mindset blocks. The fear of making offers. The pricing decisions. All of it.
You don’t have to figure this out alone. And you don’t have to take huge leaps that terrify you.
You can systematically build your risk tolerance over time, and that’s exactly what I’ve done. I might not have grown as fast as some other entrepreneurs, but I’m still above average. As one of my coach friends pointed out recently when I passed a milestone, “You’re in the top 1% of coaches. Or maybe top 5%—I don’t really know. But either way, it’s really good.”
I’ve gotten here by steadily growing year after year. Sometimes doubling my revenue or more than doubling. Sometimes just 15-30% growth. There have even been years where I’ve stayed the same or backslid when I was dealing with health changes or made too many business changes at once.
But the last five to six years, I’ve steadily grown.
You don’t have to grow year after year to be successful. You can grow at the pace your nervous system allows—where you feel safe and it feels sustainable. And then you can develop your risk tolerance over time so you can finally charge that price that’s really singing to you, hit those big milestone goals of six figures or multiple six figures, and build a business you absolutely love.
Have a great week, and I’ll see you next time.
Related Reading
Ready to build a business that supports calculated risk-taking and sustainable growth?
- How to Grow a Holistic Business Within the Lifestyle You Desire – Master the three essential skills every wellness entrepreneur needs
- How to Create Your Signature Wellness Program – Design scalable offers that allow you to take bigger risks with confidence
- Burnout Prevention for Wellness Entrepreneurs – Build sustainable systems so risk-taking doesn’t lead to burnout
- How to Grow Your Wellness Business – Stop getting in your own way and identify your growth edge
Join the Awaken Business Mastermind – Get the support you need to take calculated risks and grow with confidence
