Life
is a series of calculated risks – nothing more. Everything that you decide to
do has a margin of risk. No outcome is ever 100 percent certain and, therefore,
any attempt at anything has a chance of complete failure. We risk everything,
every day of our lives without knowing it. There is always a chance that
walking outside will kill us.There’s
a chance that we’ll never make it to our destination, a chance we won’t get to
see our loved ones again, a chance that tomorrow will never come.
Risk
taking the road less traveled.
The
road less traveled is a scary road to take. It hasn’t been worn in by previous
footsteps, so getting lost is a cinch. The brush has never been trimmed or
tended to, so you’re likely to get caught on a branch and stuck in places for a
while.The roads less traveled haven’t yet been mapped out and, therefore, the
only thing you really have to go on in hopes of reaching your destination is
your intelligence, your logic, perseverance, and a bit of luck.However, the
road less traveled has much richer plunders. You risk never getting there, but
once you do, it’s well worth your trouble.
Risk
getting turned down.
It
doesn’t matter whether you are trying to get someone’s number or asking them to
pass you a napkin – you’ll always meet that jerk who will refuse to even pay
you any attention. Because we hate being rejected – our damn egos at it again –
we often fail to even ask.More often than not, we get turned down not because
of us, but because of the individual that is rejecting our request.If you don’t
ask then you won’t be answered. If you don’t ask then you’re basically still
getting answered no, but you yourself are moving any chance of receiving a yes
Risk failing.
Failing
is both the worst and best thing that can happen to us. When you don’t fail,
you succeed. When you do fail, you succeed at figuring out another way of not
doing it – it just doesn’t feel quite as good.We too often allow our emotions
to get in the way of logic. If you don’t risk failing, then you can’t succeed.
Success requires risking failure – that is true 100 percent of the time.
Risk
putting it all on the line.
If
we do things right, there will be a time in our lives that we will have to
decide whether or not we want to put it all on the line and roll the dice. The
later you risk losing everything, the more difficult it will be to bounce back.
The biggest rewards often require the largest risks. Just be smart about it and
make sure you know exactly what you are risking and exactly what you would be
getting as a reward
Risk
missing out in order to achieve something greater.
We’re
afraid that staying in and getting some rest will make us miss out on something
huge – life changing. Think about this: You’ve been making sure that you
haven’t missed out on anything for years, how many of those experiences
actually made a positive change in your life?
Risk
that person not saying “I love you too.”
No
one wants to be the first one to say “I love you.” I get it – not hearing “I
love you” back can suck. But imagine how great it will feel if that person does
love you back. He or she is most likely worrying about the same thing
waiting for you to make a move. And if that person doesn’t love you back, then
at least you know where things really stand and can disillusion yourself.
Risk
making a mistake.
Mistakes
need to be made if you want to succeed in life – it’s how we learn. If you’re
not making mistakes then you’re not trying enough things. In other words,
you’re not living enough. Risk making those mistakes because they are the
things that make our lives interesting enough to read about.
Risk
losing friendships.
Friendships
can be great, but they can also be very restrictive. Following our dreams
usually involves quite a bit of solitude. Friendships make it very difficult to
take the time that you need to get the work done that needs to get done. In my
opinion, true friends should support you and your dreams no matter what.They
should understand that you may have to distance yourself a bit more and then
work together to keep the friendship alive – even if you don’t see each other
half as much.
Risk
not being good enough.
There’s
always a chance that you won’t be good enough. But again, isn’t that something
that you’d like to know? The fact is that you’re either good enough or not good
enough. Often, when we think we are good enough, we actually aren’t.This is
important information to have because it informs you how much more work you
need to put in before you can succeed. But you will never know if you’re good
enough if you don’t risk not being good enough.
Risk
putting yourself out there and being judged.
We
hate being judged regardless of the fact that we do it all the time and that we
are being judged all the time. Everyone always judges – it’s what we humans do.
Put yourself out there and be judged. Since you’re not selling yourself to
everyone – most people won’t be a significant part of your life – most of their
opinions don’t really matter anyway.
Risk
admitting that you don’t know.
Not
knowing is not something to be embarrassed about. There is a very fine line
between knowing and not knowing. For example, one second I will know absolutely
nothing about a topic and then two minutes later, after someone explains
something to me, I instantly know something new.It’s crazy. And it only took a
few minutes and not seconds. Knowledge is the easiest thing to accumulate, but
only if you ask questions and risk admitting your lack of knowledge.
Risk
opening up and being vulnerable
When
it comes to relationships, opening up and revealing your full, true self is
necessary. It’s a requirement of love I’m afraid. If you don’t open yourself up
and make yourself vulnerable then your partner will never see the real you and
therefore will never be able to love you for the real you.You
have to risk it all to have it all. You have to risk giving yourself fully to
the person whom you love if you want to experience the deepest level of love
possible.
Life is
all about risks – you take some and you avoid others.The
life you live depends on the choices you make, the risks you take, and how
lucky or unlucky you’ve been. Depending on how lucky you feel you’ll most
certainly want to avoid certain risks – like walking across a highway with a
blindfold.
