“What’s the worst that could happen?” only helps if you actually answer it.

That question usually gets asked rhetorically, to make a risk feel small, which is the opposite of what it is good for. Answered properly it gives you three useful things: the actual worst case, how likely it is, and whether you could absorb it. Sometimes the honest answer is mild embarrassment, and sometimes it is the money you need for rent.

Next time you reach for it, write the answer down in one sentence and read it back. Ask what you would do on the day it happened. A named risk can be decided about, while an unnamed one just gets waved past.