Taking stupid risks is really stupid. Taking smart risks is really smart. Risk is not good or bad on it’s own, it just takes a movement and makes it bigger. Risk is absolutely necessary. Walking is less risky than driving, but you are not going to get anywhere fast. Actually… crawling or just laying down is less risky. Even eating requires taking some risk, and I do not recommend avoiding that risk for long!
The value of risk applies to everything from the mundane, eating and walking, all the way to the biggest achievements in history. Space travel is “just a little” risky, and so is experimenting with electricity. The stock market is more risky than a savings account. You can lose more in stocks if you make quick unresearched decisions but you can make billions through wise acceptance of risk.
Risk is necessary. Risk in the right direction equals faster movement in the right direction. Thanks to entropy, avoidance of risk equals slow movement in the wrong direction. Total avoidance of risk equals non-existence. Risk is a powerful tool that, if used wisely, will help you to achieve whatever you choose to pursue in life. Avoiding this powerful tool will leave you without the accomplishments that could be yours.
I have meet hundreds of people who dreamed of doing great things. Among them are people with ideas so big that if they pursued their ideas, utopia would be easily within reach. But, the sad fact is, most of them will not try. They are afraid of failure. Who wants to create the next Fulton’s Folly? Ideas are cheap. They are also worthless…until they are put into action. Taking action is taking risk.
The funny thing is that you know that success requires taking more risk than you are comfortable with. And I know that you know. So why am writing this? To make you less comfortable with risk avoidance so that you will get-up, and get going. Go jump in a lake. Go fly a kite. Take a flying leap. Remember risk is your friend!
For more reading on risk and the danger of doing things half-way see Dilbert and the zone of mediocrity.
And if you think you can avoid risk by settling for a mediocre life read Everyday Relevance: Akeelah and the Bee.
Blogged with Flock
Related posts:
