In life we all get to particular turning points where we have to decide to go left or right and we know that by making this decision our life won’t ever be the same again and that’s a scary thing. It is after all our choices that define who we are to ourselves and to the world. So, learning to take risks, and the right ones at the right times is important.
Where it all starts
Our reaction to how we deal with risk taking and decision making stems from a long line of past experiences. We learn as we grow older that some leaps are going to result in hurt and pain and others result in fun, freedom and the fulfillment of dreams. As children we rely much less on how we perceive others expect us to behave. We make our decisions and take risks based off of what we want to do and what we think will bring us happiness and joy. If you observe children, they tend to do before thinking and leap before looking. Now, there are good reasons to grow out of some of this behaviour but there is something to be said for the limitation on over thinking things as children do. Learning to take risks takes practice and it’s about understanding what your goals are at the end of the day.
Staying Safe
As adults we become seekers of safe. We avoid getting hurt (physically or emotionally) at all costs, but we want the freedom to choose our own path. We fear and loath being and feeling stuck, but the funny thing is that’s really what safe is. Many times, the safe lives we create for ourselves result in us feeling stuck.
We can choose the safe option for our careers, a decision guided and influenced by the expectations of others around us. It can be safer to conform than to forge our own paths to somewhere unexpected. And at a point in our lives we may get the urge to take a risk just to stop feeling stuck. Some call this a mid-life crisis, but I think the thought of picking up and starting again happens periodically to all of us.
But safe isn’t always a bad thing it just depends which perspective you view your life from and ultimately what you want to achieve at the end of the day.
The truth is whether or not you want to be hurt, you will at some point experience this unpleasant sick feeling that rocks your world and sends everything into a spin. And no matter how much you try and plan for events life happens, stuff happens and there ain’t nothing you can do to control any of it.
Frolicking with freedom
These days now more than ever there is this notion of wanting and needing freedom and flexibility. We all live in such pressurised environments that sometimes it can feel suffocating and you just feel the need to get out. This could be because of this mentality that you have to know what to do all the time, when the truth is sometimes there is no right answer. You could do this or that or the next thing and be equally happy with either option.
There are plenty of ways to enjoy freedom but one of the ways is to take the leap and go travelling, or taking this one step further, moving countries or cities. Whether this is a short sprint of a holiday or something more permanent the idea here is to go and live the dream somewhere else at least for a time.
The funny thing is even when you are out there, you can end up feeling stuck, and you can still have bad days and trying moments. These things in life don’t disappear just because you’re on holiday.
What risks are worth it?
So, you’re thinking about taking a risk, but how do you know if you’re making the right decision? How do you know if taking the leap will be worth it?
Well, the short answer is you don’t. But I will say is that you have to be ready and willing to wear the consequences of the decision either way. This is part of learning to take
So, say you’re thinking about changing careers, there are plenty of factors to consider when you are thinking about taking this leap from known to unknown.
The ultimate question to ask yourself is: Why?
Why do you want to change jobs?
Or if you want to quit your job and travel, ask “Why do I want to do this?”
What do I want to get out of this decision?
Analysing what risks are worth the jump is something that is sometimes difficult to do, especially if you are emotionally invested one way or the other in a decision.
Being emotionally invested is great, but it can also cloud your judgement and lead to unforeseen consequences you may not like. Being hasty in a decision can lead to regret, so take the time to think it through especially if you’re feeling very strongly about taking the risk. That way you won’t end up later on wishing you hadn’t been so hasty.
Thinking about the consequences
We can circumvent the unforeseen consequences of your risk taking by thinking about the consequences. The old adage look before you leap comes to mind here.
So here are some questions you can ask yourself to guide your risk-taking decision making:
- What could be the best possible outcome of this decision?
- What could be the worst outcome of this decision?
- Will this get me what I want?
- Do I have to take the risk now?
- What if I wait?
- What if you don’t take the risk?
- Is it really a risk? Or just recklessness?
- Is this an emotional decision or are there good reasons for jumping into the unknown?
Pros and Cons
Often people who are making decisions write out a list of the pros and cons of each option. This is a good way to do things, but it’s also quite simplistic. Some decisions aren’t a win-lose scenario. However, there are decisions that may be better for some portions of your life and worse for others.
For example, if you decided to quit your job and travel the world, that would probably pretty good from a freedom seeking perspective, but in terms of stability and certainty, well there isn’t a guarantee about that at all with this option.
I will write a post that tackles this topic, not all decisions are a win-lose scenario! Stay tuned for more.
Your Risk-Taking Compass
In life you may get to an obvious point at which you have to decide to take a risk or not. You choose this career path, you choose to love this person, you decide to take a pay cut to do a job you love. All these are decisions that involve different degrees of risk.
Ultimately, learning to take risks is about figuring out what you want and how you are going to get there to that place. Figuring out what makes you tick and gets you up in the morning excited to take on the world is by far the best gauge and compass you should use to help you decide what risks to take and which ones to ignore.
A friend of mine told me one time that “You have to take the big steps otherwise you don’t go anywhere…” And how right she was. She knew what many of us take years to learn, that sometimes to get what you want in life you need to learn to take risks, you need to learn to jump.
To figure out what is worth the risk to you, you need to know what matters in your life. But how do you know what matters to you? What if you don’t know what really makes you special and what your true gifts are, well that’s ok. Life is all about learning exactly this and then doing more of it.
Take small risks often
Learning to take risks is all about starting small. Allow yourself to be open to new experiences and take small risks often. Why? Because you don’t have to take big risks to feel alive and free.
Risks don’t always have to be big. Though generally the kind of risk that’s gets talked about is the BIG risks where people are wanting to make BIG changes in their lives. But taking smaller risks can be just as effective in getting what you want.
Especially, if you aren’t sure what you want in life, this approach is quite an effective way of warming up to bigger changes. Taking smaller risks and help you to become accustomed to the practice of risk taking. You can learn to analyze your options and determine whether this risk is going to reward you with the outcome you want. And if you’re not sure about what you want you can at least make a semi-informed decision.
Also, by taking these smaller risks, you are less likely to feel trapped in your day to day life. You will be able to see the
Be open to the possibilities
Nothing in life is guaranteed and you can be sure that while you’re learning to take risks and deciding what to do circumstances will change. You’ll get more information, life may get in the way, but new opportunities are bound to surface as well. If you decide that taking a risk right now isn’t the best thing for you because the risks you’re contemplating won’t yield the results you’re after you can always wait.
Give it time and because you’re now more attuned to creating a change in a certain area in your life you will start to see different opportunities float into your awareness. And then you have the power to choose what you do with this new information. Do you take the risk? Is it worth it? What is the worst that could happen?
Continue to ask yourself the questions.
Sometimes it is now or never
There are some risks that are definitely a decision you have to make and realise that if you don’t do it now while you have the time, money, and or opportunity you may never get the chance again. I have had this happen to me.
I had always wanted to travel to Antarctica, for years I had had this dream of doing it. Then one year around October/November I thought, oh let me just drop into the travel agent and see how much the airfare would be just out of curiosity more than anything else. Well, by the time I left there my advisor had me armed with all of the information I could ever want about this adventure of a lifetime. I went home and mulled over the brochures and talked to my family. I thought about what would happen if I didn’t do this now. What if I didn’t decide to go on this trip to Antarctica? What if I waited and did it next year? If I waited I would have time to do more research and get fitter, maybe I could find someone to travel with me blah blah…
But then I imagined the following year and the “life” things that would pop up and give me plenty reasons not to go. I decided then that if I was ever going to go on this trip it would be that year, otherwise I would probably never go.
This was a risk I had to take. Why was it a risk you say? Well, for one I went on my own, I hadn’t ever really been somewhere cold let alone Antarctica, I didn’t speak Spanish or Portuguese and it cost me a pretty penny to go.
But what I got from that trip was priceless. I had literally the best time of my life, I saw amazing things and did things I never thought I would do, and I will never regret going.
The flip side to that is I can tell you that if I hadn’t have gone, I would have regretted it forever.
So, what will you regret?
Life is too short and too precious to always play it safe. Some risks are worth taking as long as you have contemplated the consequences and thought through the worst-case scenario. If you can deal with those things and the risk is still worth it, then go on take the leap!
Remember, everything in life is a balance, and you can learn to take risks to suit your life and your compass and they don’t have to be big glaring risks, they can be small and subtle and still have a profound effect on your mindset and how fulfilled you feel in your life.
You only have one life to live so find what brings you joy and fulfillment and take the risks that get you more of that stuff! There is no better feeling then to know you have lived and done the things you wanted to do despite the hurdles and the obstacles, the objections and the opinions.
Learn to take risks in the right areas of your life and you will be on your way to building the life of your dreams one brick at a time!