Is The Risk Worth The Reward?

Brian dives into what it takes to be successful in business, finances, and your career, and how that success relates to the risks you take. He covers the habits that seem to drive successful people to push the envelope, and how those are the people who are willing to take risks more often in order to accomplish their goals. He also discusses why people tend to take the easy road and settle for a life that they may only be content with.

So why is it that we, as humans, are typically risk averse and our fear makes us take the road most travelled, the easy way out, and make decisions that feel most comfortable? Margie Warrell, author of the article Take A Risk: The Odds Are better Than You Think, identifies a few similar actions that influence our behavior. Here is what she reports:

1. We over-estimate the probability of something going wrong.
2. We exaggerate the consequences of what might happen if it does go wrong.
3. We under estimate our ability to handle the consequences of risk.
4. We discount or deny the cost of inaction, and sticking with the status quo.

“Humans are wired to be risk averse” – Margie Warrell

Brian takes it a step further and outlines steps to take in order to take more risk responsibly, and how to begin understanding and conquering risk or your fear of failure. Take that first step, fine tune your priorities and try something that may be out of your comfort zone.

1. Learn the difference between a calculated risk and a gamble.
2. Create a plan of action and put a time-line together.
3. Save money and resources to give your “risk seed” a chance to grow and succeed.
4. Be prepared to pivot if necessary.
5. Take a moment to celebrate your successes.

Brian, a huge Steve Jobs fan, took the opportunity to quote the man himself. As it turns out, Jobs seems to know a thing or two about taking risks.

“The greatest artists like Dylan, Picasso and Newton risked failure. And if we want to be great, we’ve got to risk it too.”

“Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.”

– Steve Jobs

If there was ever a poem that directly relates to a podcast topic, it is The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

– Frost