Take that risk!

“Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Life is a series of calculated risks, nothing more or less. Everything that you decide to do has a margin of risk and no outcome is ever 100 percent certain. Therefore, any attempt at anything we do in life has a chance of complete failure as it has of success, despite that, risk in one way or the other, is inevitable.
Risk is, by nature, scary. Its uncertain and unpredictable. You are heading off into uncharted territory, you may lose your life savings or your face. You risk criticism and humiliation or having to pick up the pieces and start all over again. You are giving up what you know for what might be, the rewards, which thereafter can be great, but so can the cost. With all these in mind, why would anybody want to take a risk? – Taking risk gives you an opportunity to open up to your talents, interest, abilities and dreams, it teaches you to set clear goals and follow through, it opens you up to new ideas, skills, opportunities and experiences and more importantly, because not taking risks in itself is a risk. Although to some extent, our problem isn’t only that we don’t wanna take risk, its that we either don’t know the acceptable risk to take or we can’t manage the risk well.
When it comes to risk-taking, there are two extremes. Some people are afraid to take even reasonable risks, wanting guaranteed results. This can result in a life that’s flat and lackluster. Others take risks easily, believing that their willingness to leap makes them courageous. But taking major risks without thinking them through is foolish, and such people often find themselves picking up the pieces of shattered dreams.
According to Dan Borge in his book titled “The Book Of Risk”, risk means being exposed to the possibility of a bad outcome, and risk management means taking deliberate action to shift the odds in your favour. Everyday as we live, we take risks, we make risky decisions. We risk everything without even knowing or thinking about it. —- things as simple as getting out of bed, lighting up a cigarette, getting in your car. (They are not risky? Go watch 1000 ways to die.)
There is always a chance that we’ll never make it to our destination, a chance we won’t get to see our loved ones again, a chance that tomorrow will never come, a chance that walking outside will kill us – yet we remain unperturbed and still go about those activities even when the negative thoughts filter in. Why? – because we make a positive affirmation despite the fears, or simply put, we show Faith.
The question now is, why do we make our faith a selective index? Why don’t we agonize over every decision, why is it only the big, life-changing risks that we face only a handful of times in our lives that stops us in our tracks? The answer again is lack of faith, we let our fears do the talking. Instead of nurturing the positives, we nurture the fear until it assumes a bigger posture that eventually scares us off. We fail to understand that fears are like a mirage, you only need to move closer to see they are not there. Its a trick on the brain by the heart, and once you can trick your heart into believing all is well, all will truly be well. (Remember the movie, 3 idiots)
So, how do we know the acceptable risks to take and how do we manage risks? Dr. Ben Carson in his book titled “Take the risk” formulated a
risk taking scale which he called a Best/Worse Analysis scale. (B/WA) – there he laid out four (4) questions to ask ourselves when faced with a risky situation/decision. The questions are –
1. What’s the best thing that could happen if I do this?
2. What’s the worst thing that could happen if I do this?
3. What’s the best thing that could happen if I don’t do this?
4. What’s the worst thing that could happen if I don’t do this?
By asking ourselves these four (4) questions and answering them carefully and objectively, it presents to us a unique way of accessing and ultimately reducing the risks involved. If the best you could garner from the intended decision far outweighs the worst, go for it, just do it. With a little bit of luck, you will come good. If the worst outweighs the best possible outcome, don’t be stubborn, its not an acceptable risk. Dive out and wait for another chance, for another day,
Consider the timing. Your risk may be less risky with 1, 5 or even 10 years of preparation. Save money, learn skills, research, set the stage for your eventual leap. You can relieve the frustration of not actively pursuing your goal (yet) by taking steps toward it on an ongoing basis.
There are some risks however that everyone should take in life. Why? Because they are almost always necessary ingredients in the recipe that is happiness. Here are 3:
1. Risk taking the road less traveled.
Adeosun Olubusayo Jumoke once wrote on her Facebook wall – “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Believe me, the road less traveled is a scary road to take. It hasn’t been worn in by previous footsteps, so getting lost is a
possibility. The brush has never been trimmed or tended to, so you’re likely to get caught on a branch and stuck in places for a while. The roads less traveled haven’t yet been mapped out and, therefore, the only thing you really have to go on in hopes of reaching your destination is your intelligence, your logic, perseverance, and a bit of luck. However, the road less traveled has much richer plunders. You risk never getting there, but once you do, it’s well worth your trouble.
2. Risk not getting the job.
We won’t always be the best qualified. We won’t always be the smartest, brightest or best fit for the job. And there will also be times when we are best suited for the position and we still get turned down. That’s simply the way life is, but you still need to put yourself on the line and risk being turned down for your dream position. Often times, people get hired simply because they seem hungry and seem like they’ll get along very well with the rest of the team. Experience isn’t always the determining factor. Risking not getting the job is the same as risking actually landing it.
3. Risk opening up and being vulnerable.
When it comes to relationships, opening up and revealing your full, true self is necessary. It’s a requirement of love I’m afraid. If you don’t open yourself up and make yourself vulnerable then your partner will never see the real you and therefore will never be able to love you for the real you. You have to risk it all to have it all. You have to risk giving yourself fully to the person whom you love if you want to experience the deepest level of love possible.
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Life doesn’t come with guarantees. That can make it risky and perhaps scary, but it’s also what makes it interesting and fun. Even if you’re not a gambler by nature, there’s something exhilarating about taking a risk and winning.
In her audio tape, Instant Guts!, Joan Gale Frank says, “Even though you can come up with a dozen good excuses for why you shouldn’t take a risk, there’s one great big reason why you should. And that is, until you do, your heart is going to hunger. If you don’t take risks, you’ll never feel quite complete. Right up until the day your story ends.” – “So, are you going to just sit there wondering what your life could have been like if only you took a couple of risks? Or are you going to do something about it while you still have the chance? Because when your story closes, you’re going to find out that it’s not what you did that you regret the most, it’s what you didn’t do!”
So, think it through, be prepared, go for it. Or like Nike said,
RISK EVEYTHING!