There is no such thing as eliminating risk.
Risk is a part of our everyday life. You take a risk when you get in your car, when you walk down the steps, when you walk down the street, when you share your feelings with someone else, when you ride a bike…everything in life involves some measure of risk. How often do we hear about someone getting injured doing something that is part of their everyday life? Something as simple as stepping off a curb? Or cooking?
We don’t look at cooking as a risk do we? We don’t really think about the risk in driving a car most of the time do we?
Of course there is a measure of calculated risk in most things we do, such that we no longer have to think about it. But what about the risks we DO think about? These are the risks related to the unknown (which still applies to everything because we don’t know what will happen in the next minute, but in most cases we assume what can happen because we spend so much of our life in our comfort zone).
I’m now talking about the risks that have broad implications on our lives. The risk of changing a job, or starting a business, or of pursuing anything with which their is an opportunity to fail because you have the responsibility of making it happen. This is where the risk issue gets murky. I too often see people stay where they are instead of risking change…even if they are not happy where they are. They think there is not risk in staying…and they are sadly mistaken.
There is actually more risk in staying than in pursuing the change. If you stay in the place you would like to change but are afraid to…here are the risks you are taking:
- You are risking that the thing you are staying in will be the same going forward…meaning it will still be bearable and that it will still be viable. Is anything in today’s world going to be the same in the future? No…only things that are dead. Foolish risk.
- You are risking the opportunity cost of the the choice of change. In most cases you cannot have your cake and eat it too…you either go for it or you don’t…if you don’t, you miss what could be in the given change. This could be far reaching to your quality of life. For example, if the change involves business or career, you risk the financial potential, but more importantly you risk the fulfillment and enjoyment potential. Let’s face it, you wouldn’t be having to choose if you already loved what you do and made plenty of money too…so is it really a risk to change and have better potential in all areas of your life?
- You are risking your self-respect. When you stay in one place because you give in to the fear of the risk of change you will forever feel like a chicken. Its a lot easier to stand back up because you tried and fell, than it is to stand up after you stayed seated from fear. Everything you repeat in life becomes habit…even being a chicken.
So here’s the bottom line…doing nothing is still a risk…choosing not to risk is still a risk…you might as well go for what you want in life, because whether you do or you don’t, you are taking a risk…so take the risk that will have promise and be in the direction of what you want.
