During the last two weeks of December, I usually spend a lot of time reading novels. With any good novel, there is usually a fear amount of tension, and things never go smoothly for the main characters. You find the characters taking risks, and as in life, we often hear that the bigger the risk, the bigger reward. Looking back at your life, do you take calculated risks, or are you risks averse?
Will you take more risks in 2013, and spread your wings and soar? Although I’m not risk averse, I do not take enough risks in my business or life. I do not seem to step far enough outside of my comfort zone. While reading the novels, for many of them, I felt a certain amount of angst, when the characters were doing something that is considered “risky”. But when I stop to think about the story, I realized that had the characters not done what they had done, that is, taken the risk, I would not have enjoyed the stories and would have thought they were “wusses.”
In life, taking risks doesn’t have to mean placing yourself in harm’s way. It could mean doing something that’s untried and unproven, that’s how innovation occurs. You could try a procedure that failed before because this time around conditions are different. You may also be scared, and want to wait for someone to help you fight your battles, but the wait may be very long. And there are times when we have to fight our battles by ourselves. We have to take a chance, and take a risk' and another way to do that is to walk the path less traveled.
In 2013, let’s start off by taking small risks, and as we become more comfortable, let’s take more risks, but be sensible about it, never putting ourselves in situations that will endanger our lives. If you are experiencing a problem in your business, look to other industries to determine if they have resolved a similar problem. Look around you to discover worthwhile problems that need resolving and work on those. There are many different ways to take risks.
