Law #85 - Position Yourself To Be A Risk Taker
by Stanley Bronstein on July 9, 2008
Law #85
Position Yourself To Be A Risk Taker
Quote #1 - Take a chance. (Author Unknown)
Quote #2 - And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. (Anais Nin)
Quote #3 - Yes, risk taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing-taking. (Tim McMahon)
Quote #1 - Definitions
Take - To get into one’s hold or possession by voluntary action. To hold, grasp, or grip. To seize or capture.
Chance - A risk or hazard. Luck or fortune.
Source: Dictionary.com
What Does Quote #1 Suggest?
So many people are afraid to take risks. YOU SHOULD NOT BE ONE OF THEM. Life involves risks. Live involves chances. I love to take chances. I take them all the time. Life would be boring if we did NOT take chances.
Don’t be afraid. Be daring.
Quote #2 - Definitions
Day - A time considered as propitious or opportune. Period of existence, power, or influence.
Came - To approach or move toward a particular person or place. To arrive by movement or in the course of progress.
Risk - Exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance. The hazard or chance of loss. To expose to the chance of injury or loss; hazard.
Remain - To continue in the same state; continue to be as specified. To stay behind or in the same place. To be left to be done, told, shown.
Tight - Firmly or closely fixed in place; not easily moved; secure. Drawn or stretched so as to be tense; taut.
Bud - An immature or undeveloped person or thing. To be in an early stage of development.
More - In greater quantity, amount, measure, degree, or number. Additional or further. An additional quantity, amount, or number.
Painful - Affected with, causing, or characterized by pain. Distressing, torturing, agonizing, tormenting, excruciating.
Took - To accept and act upon or comply with. To receive, react, or respond to in a specified manner.
Blossom - The flower of a plant, esp. of one producing an edible fruit. To flourish; develop. The state of flowering.
Source: Dictionary.com
What Does Quote #2 Suggest?
It suggests an interesting point that I suspect many people approach in their lives. That point is a balancing point. It is a point when the risk it remains for them to stay closed up; to not take a risk; is even worse than the risk they would encounter if they opened up and allowed things to start happening in their lives.
My suggestion is that this point occurs in peoples’ lives MUCH earlier than they might realize. I believe it is ALMOST ALWAYS riskier to NOT take a risk, than it is to actually take one.
Let me repeat that. I believe it is ALMOST ALWAYS risker to NOT take a risk, than it is to actually take one.
That is what this quote is suggesting.
Quote #3 - Definitions
Yes - An affirmative reply.
Risk - Exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance. The hazard or chance of loss. To expose to the chance of injury or loss; hazard.
Taking - To receive and accept willingly. To accept and act upon or comply with.
Inherently - Existing in someone or something as a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute.
Failure - An act or instance of proving unsuccessful; lack of success. Nonperformance of something due, required, or expected.
Prone - Having a natural inclination or tendency to something; disposed; liable.
Otherwise - Under other circumstances. In another manner; differently. In other respects.
Called - Named. Characterized. Designated as. Labeled as.
Sure Thing - Something that is or is supposed to be a certain success, as a bet or a business venture. Something assured; certainty.
Source: Dictionary.com
What Does Quote #3 Suggest?
What it suggests is simple. If you take risk, you are going to sometimes fail. If risk taking were not “risky”, there would be no chance of failure. If there was no chance of failure, it would be a sure thing. So, risk taking would be named something else - sure-thing-taking.
Unfortunately, there is not often such a thing. Life is full of risks. Risks are all around us.
If we want to live we are going to have to take risks.
So, If We Are Going To Have To Take Risks, What Should We Do?
This is the question I’ve been leading up to for this entire post.
The problem is not in the taking of the risk. The problem is in the taking of BAD risks.
Smart risk, intelligent risks, well calculated risks are good things.
Bad risks, stupid risks, risks with little or no chance of success are bad things.
So, risks are not inherently good or bad. Good risks are good and bad risks are bad.
It really is that simple.
So, do NOT be afraid to take risks. Take a chance. Do NOT be afraid of failure.
Instead of spending all your energy being afraid of failure, direct that energy toward making sure the risks you take are intelligent ones; smart ones. That way, you might just succeed!
Until next time, take care, my dear friends.Mr. Achievement
Stanley F. Bronstein
Attorney & CPA
July 10th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Hi Stanley. So the question is, how do you determine what is a “good” risk and what is a “bad” risk? Personally, I would perhaps say, what is a potentially successful risk and what isn’t. That’s the tough part. I know there are lots of way from a business perspective to evaluate risk, but sometimes it’s something you just “gotta do,” then it’s a “good” risk no matter the outcome. Thanks for this interesting info and perspective.
Andrea
July 10th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Andrea:
To me the phrase “good risk” is virtually the same thing as “potentially successful risk”. I think you and I are both saying the same things, but just using different words.
To me a good risk is one that has enough of a chance of being successful to make it worth taking.
I also agree that sometimes you’ve just gotta do things. There are some risks one must take no matter what, HOWEVER, we can then sometimes take steps along the way to increase the chances that such a “risk” that we just have to do will be successful.
Stanley Bronstein
MrAchievement
July 12th, 2008 at 7:15 am
This law played a very powerful role in my life. I had a successful medical practice for 14 years. During the last six years I developed a passion for helping people break free from yoyo dieting. Two books and 1000’s of people later, I knew I needed to take a risk and step out of the safety zone of my practice so I would have the energy and space to reach the millions more who can be helped.
Jumping ship into the wide blue ocean has paid off in personal happiness and the ability to control my own destiny. Now I am able to serving many others in a way that wasn’t possible while I stayed on deck. Risky but well worth it!
Michelle
http://www.amihungry.com/
July 12th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Michelle:
It’s scary sometimes to jump off a cliff, BUT, as I’ve been told before:
If you’re going to jump off a cliff, you might as well fly . . .
And that is precisely what you did . . .
Stanley Bronstein
MrAchievement
July 14th, 2008 at 7:47 am
[...] a quick side trip from my series on healthy eating while traveling. Over the weekend I read a blog about taking risks and it dawned on me that three years ago this week, I left my medical practice of 14 years. I [...]
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Evaluating the risk involved in a given project can be almost a project itself. Learning how safe or intelligent a risk may be can put you in a position where you have to decide if: you want to learn the rest along the way or just dump the idea. I am sure others have faced this before, they simply cannot answer the first question and waste their time without doing a thing.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Luis:
The best thing one can do to evaluate risk is to learn from their experiences.
As you have correctly identified, there is no easy answer, BUT WE MUST STILL TRY TO FIND ONE.
Stanley Bronstein
MrAchievement