Taking risks doesn’t always mean that success is at the corner, and that’s OK! In fact, taking risks can, many time, lead to failure which in turn can help you grow as a person. This happens as many of life’s greatest achievements require going outside of your comfort zone and test yourself. So, why do we actually take risks?
It’s no surprise that as we get older we tend to experiment more with risky situations, in order to understand how they affect us.
People are naturally curious, and they don’t want to simply be told that a certain activity is bad for them.
We want to find out why a certain activity is good or bad for us. We learn from our mistakes, and from experience.
What type of risks do we take?
Boredom
Sometimes we feel more risky because we’re bored and want to do something new with our lives. However, generally boredom is the result of some imbalance in how we are living.
In fact, we may not be using our talents to their full potential which in turn makes us take bad decisions.
Insecurities
Everyone wants to be liked by others. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we should let this need overcome our sense of self-preservation.
Wanting attention
At some point during our life we feel that we want other peoples’ attention.
This need can be caused by a sense of loneliness and insecurity, which comes from from bad life experiences, which have hurt as.
Adrenalin rush
Adrenalin is a very powerful chemical produced by the body during exciting or stressful situations.
In fact, this sudden increase of energy can lead many young people to overlook the danger of risky activities. This is a key point, which everyone should be aware of.
Money
Money make the world go round, right? Especially young people want to achieve more and fast, thus taking risky decisions to achieve that.
Ensuring personal safety during risk-taking
Despite the importance of taking risks, they should never come at the expense of safety. Here we present four key ways to avoid risk and ensure personal safety:
1. Think
Before taking a risk, think about the consequences of your actions. If your decision ultimately negatively affects you and others, think about how and why it happened and what was your role in it.
2. Review
Review your friend groups and decide which groups of friends are providing a positive influence in your life. Then, ask yourself why you are spending time with people whose actions and lifestyles are full of risk and risk your overall wellbeing.
3. Talk
If you are worried about something, talk with your family and trusted friends. They can support you and help you decide what decision to take, risky or not.
4. Know
To ensure safety, even when taking a risk, you must know what actions to take to ensure it. To do this, have a look at your everyday life and understand which aspects of it are leaving you at risk.
Benefits of risk taking
By now, you should know why you are taking a risk, as well as how to do it safely. Once you are confident enough, you finally decide to take a leap of faith. Let’s examine some of the benefits that are waiting for you on the other end.
Less fear
The greatest enemy of risk is fear. Often we fear something so much that we are not willing to overcome that resistance.
By taking risks, we make great progress in reducing the effect fear has over us and our natural courage is strengthened. We then can take action more easily.
A world of new possibilities
When we don’t take risks we become immobile and stagnant. As a matter of fact, many of us just imagine the possible outcome, but we do not take action to actually achieve it.
Taking risks opens up new opportunities, and possibilities present themselves to us.
Develops self-confidence and resilience
Taking a risk does not automatically ensure success. In fact, the majority of people taking risks have more often failed that succeeded. However, this is the natural process of risk taking; we have to go through failure in order to reach success.
By taking risks, you will eventually see that your self-confidence in yout abilities and strengths has increased, but more importantly you will develop resilience and exercise your courage. Resilience is what makes us continue despite adversities, even when we have tried and failed multiple times. However, one success is all that you need to continue.
Teaches important lessons
You can listen to the advice of others or observe how they live their lives, but you will not know what you like or what your strengths are until you try something for yourself. Create a new experience, learn your own lesson even if they are difficult; that way you will truly know.
In fact, we all have a perspective for life, but it was not created out of thin air. It’s the life lessons that make us what we are, and these lessons come through risks.
These lessons will become vital parts of your life wisdom and continue to guide and inform you each day.
Leads to high rewards
We all know people who seem to be so lucky and great things “just happen” for them. However, nothing just happens. Successful people have taken many risks throughout their life, and they are now reaping the rewards. Success cannot happen in one night, and cannot exist without taking risks.
The first risk someone takes is the will to overcome the fear that is holding them back. S we said, many times risks will fail. But, from every unsuccessful risk, there is always something positive: you overcame a fear, you saw different possibilities, and eventually gained self-confidence and resilience, to learn even more lessons and develop your personality. Sometimes the reward is hidden, but all too much important.
