Strategic Points

Are you a Risk Taker?

Risk is something some people enjoy, some tolerate and yet some avoid, but the person who risks nothing usually gains nothing. It is however important to know which risks are the good ones and which are the bad ones. You may be surprised to know which are which.
The person who thinks they’re going to get through life without taking any risks is not. Just getting out of bed today is a risk and the risks go up as you get into the traffic, walk in the street on your way to your office or simply sit at your desk all day eating junk food for lunch and snacks.
A good risk is a risk which involves a benefit that far outweighs the possible loss and, predictably, a bad risk involves a risk which involves a lot to lose and very little to gain.

How big a risk taker are you? When faced with risks, do you try to avoid them or weigh up if they’re worth taking?
When we start out life we’re big risk takers. We’re up for anything as we start to explore this wonderful world into which we’ve been born. We’ll stick all sorts of things in our mouths to see what they taste like. We’ll stick our fingers into all sorts of holes to find out what’s in them and when we discover that these two long funny things attached to the bottom of our bodies are actual worth using to carry us to where we would like to go, we start to shakily get up onto our two legs and start wobbling all over the place, much to the concern of our protective parents. But we’re determined to master them.
The risk attached to walking is falling. But we’re prepared to take that risk. We fall, but we get up again and continue walking. We fall again, but we still pursue our dream of walking on our own and, because of our continued risk taking and perseverance, we eventually achieve our dream.
Imagine if, as babies, we fell once while trying to walk and decided that was it, we’re not going to take that risk again. There would be a lot of adults shuffling around on their bums, wouldn’t there be?

It’s said that the person who takes no risks achieves nothing. If you’ve been wondering why your life seems stagnant, directionless or without purpose, it might be that you’ve quietly stopped taking risks. Imagine of you had stopped taking risks at the age of two. Where would you be today?
Life is a risk. The day you decide to stop taking risks is the day you decide to stop living. Obviously I’m not suggesting you should start taking silly risks which will get you into all sorts of bad situations. I’m talking about taking well considered risks that are going to help you get higher, further, deeper in life than you would have if you had not taken them. Getting into a relationship is a risk, but the rewards of a good relationship are amazing. Changing jobs is a risk, but the potential to grow further is incredible. Having children is a risk, but they bring so much love, pleasure and joy into our lives.
Maybe, the big risk you’re simply not prepared to take is the risk of change – the risk of being prepared to change what you’re doing or how you’re thinking to enable you to get to the next level. If that’s the case, why don’t you see the risk for what it is and decide to face up to it.
You can’t be who and what you would like to be until you’re prepared to risk making changes from what you currently are and how you currently think. Come on, take the risk – you were born to be more than you currently are!

(Reference Alan Hosking HR Future magazine, www.hrfuture.net)