Taking Risks in Life?

[tfahkry]

I have been called 'conservative' by many of my friends in the way i tend not take risks in business. I am looking to purchase an apartment and currently run my own fitness business with a number of smaller products that i sell on the side. I live at home and feel that i am rather safe in my approach to moving forward in life, yet i desire to achieve so much more than where i currently am. How do i move forward in my mind in terms of taking risks in business & other aspects of my life? I was never this safe and not entirely happy where I am at the moment, though certainly grateful for all I have

I absolutely love the job i do and am very good at it. I use many of the techniques i have picked up through my reading over the years on mind power etc with clients with great success. I am in my mid thirties and do want to have a family with kids at some stage and a very successful million dollar business. How do i change my belief system to advance forward? Your advice is appreciated

[mlbr23]

The fear of not taking (calculated) risks is the same as any other fear. It stems from lack of certainty. Certainty comes from knowledge.

Basically saying, fear is caused by lack of knowledge, a feeling of not being in control because you don't know all the variables in the equation.

Decrease your fear of risks by increasing your knowledge. That is why the best risk you should take is called calculated risk. Because you've worked out all the equations.

Another powerful way forward is to take mentors - people who have achieved the level of success that you want to achieve. Your mentors need not be business gurus who charge you thousands of dollars per hour of their time. They can even be people you already know but haven't thought of tapping their expertise for your benefit, learning and growth.

Ask yourself - do you want to continue living the way you are right now? Do you want to remain stuck in your present level of circumstance? How much do you really, really want to get to the next level - whatever that is for you?

What will you lose if you don't get to the next level? What is required to get to the next level? How much risk is needed? Would you rather lose a little by risking (calculatedly) or lose even more (maybe even everything) by staying in your comfort zone?

[RT Wolf]

Another thing to recognize that the root cause behind fear, even behind uncertainty is the fear that you can't handle or you won't be able to handle it. You can read Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, if you'd like, its a great book about this. Literally a PD classic.

Another way that can sometimes help is to quantify the worst case scenerio. Sometimes we're vaguely afraid of something happening, but once you quantify it (or reach it) you realize its not all that bad. I remember reading that most millionaires have been bankrupt at least once before they became millionaires. That's not to say you'll have to be bankrupt before you become a millionaire, just that money crunches are a part of it.

Other than that, have a look at Steve's general stuff. He has a podcast on overcoming fear and a number of related posts. His introductory article, The Courage to Live Consciously might help.

Another tip is to find motivational and inspirational audio and listen to it daily. It will help energize you adn referesh you.l

[alexinspire]

That's the point!

People like to shrink what they want to achieve and shrink their dreams.

People who are not achieving what they want and what they dream will never have a fulfilled life and a life they are happy with. When you settle yourself at a okay life, okay business, okay relationship, or okay whatever, you start to feel bored and disempowered by life itself.

Start to achieve your dreams. If you scared of failure, get a mentor. He will know where's the place you should avoid and where you should go to realize your dreams.

GO GET A MENTOR. It's better than living a life where all your excited dreams is suppress by you.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by tfahkry

I have been called 'conservative' by many of my friends in the way i tend not take risks in business ..... I am in my mid thirties and do want to have a family with kids at some stage and a very successful million dollar business. How do i change my belief system to advance forward? Your advice is appreciated

Aha, I shall provide with a provocative perspective on the belief you would aim to change.

How about this belief:

"I need to take more risks to advance forward".

What if you did NOT need to take more risks, to advance forward?

[Enoch Tan]

To accomplish anything in life, we must be willing to take risks. A risk is a probability of things not going the way we desire them to go. Stepping into the realm of the unpredictable is the only way we can access more probabilities that we have not experienced before. When you do not put yourself in situations where there is risk involved, you shut yourself off from probabilities of your desires fulfilled. The wise way to live is to take calculated risks and act. You win by stacking the deck in your favor.

You can always do things that increase your chances of success, and you should because it makes it easier for you. The more you win, the more confident you become with doing more things that involves risk. Each time you use your power, you increase it because you become better at using it. But take risks you still must because any situation that involves probability of success also involves probability of failure. You will find that risk becomes nothing when you become a master of handling probabilities.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Enoch Tan

To accomplish anything in life, we must be willing to take risks.

Where did you get this belief? Some book on entrepreneurship, perhaps?

Seriously, write down a quick list of your 50 personal achievements. Then ask yourself - did you REALLY take any risks, to achieve any of these? I think you'll find that many achievements are possible without any significant risk.

For example, one of my personal achievements is that I scored very good grades in university. I do not consider that I took any risks in order to achieve this. I simply studied diligently and consistently. However I do not consider studying to be inherently risky.

Another of my personal achievements is that I have raised two kids who, IMO, are happy, healthy and clever. However, I am hard-pressed to name the risks that I have taken, in order to cause them to be happy, healthy and clever.

A third personal achievement of mine is that I am quite rich. Now a major factor in my becoming rich is that I am consistently prudent with my expenses and I avoid buying unnecessary things. Being prudent with my expenses and avoiding unnecessary things does not require any risk-taking.

A fourth personal achievement of mine is that at a certain time of my life (unfortunately not now), I was physically very fit. This was simply the result of exercising regularly. However I do not consider regular exercise to be risky behaviour unless you take your exercise to extremes (and I did not).

A fifth personal achievement of mine is that I once received a special commendation letter from the CEO of my organisation for being one of the top employees. I was not however commended for anything that had to do with risk-taking or which resulted from risk-taking. I was commended for my technical knowledge of a certain field; and for being very helpful and useful to a certain division of the organisation. None of this, as I said, had anything to do with taking risks.

Etc etc.

I could go on, but you get the idea. There are numerous kinds of achievements which do not require any significant risk-taking. Instead they may require other things like practice, diligence, talent, luck, opportunities, consistency, perseverance, creativity, interpersonal skills, IQ, EQ or any number of other things.

I can also think of various occupations where the most successful people would almost certainly not be known for their risk-taking behaviour. For example, doctors, surgeons, passenger pilots, accountants, safety inspection officers, nuclear facility personnel and corporate lawyers.

[tfahkry]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Where did you get this belief? Some book on entrepreneurship, perhaps?

Seriously, write down a quick list of your 50 personal achievements. Then ask yourself - did you REALLY take any risks, to achieve any of these? I think you'll find that many achievements are possible without any significant risk.

For example, one of my personal achievements is that I scored very good grades in university. I do not consider that I took any risks in order to achieve this. I simply studied diligently and consistently. However I do not consider studying to be inherently risky.

Another of my personal achievements is that I have raised two kids who, IMO, are happy, healthy and clever. However, I am hard-pressed to name the risks that I have taken, in order to cause them to be happy, healthy and clever.

A third personal achievement of mine is that I am quite rich. Now a major factor in my becoming rich is that I am consistently prudent with my expenses and I avoid buying unnecessary things. Being prudent with my expenses and avoiding unnecessary things does not require any risk-taking.

A fourth personal achievement of mine is that at a certain time of my life (unfortunately not now), I was physically very fit. This was simply the result of exercising regularly. However I do not consider regular exercise to be risky behaviour unless you take your exercise to extremes (and I did not).

A fifth personal achievement of mine is that I once received a special commendation letter from the CEO of my organisation for being one of the top employees. I was not however commended for anything that had to do with risk-taking or which resulted from risk-taking. I was commended for my technical knowledge of a certain field; and for being very helpful and useful to a certain division of the organisation. None of this, as I said, had anything to do with taking risks.

Etc etc.

I could go on, but you get the idea. There are numerous kinds of achievements which do not require any significant risk-taking. Instead they may require other things like practice, diligence, talent, luck, opportunities, consistency, perseverance, creativity, interpersonal skills, IQ, EQ or any number of other things.

I can also think of various occupations where the most successful people would almost certainly not be known for their risk-taking behavior. For example, doctors, surgeons, passenger pilots, accountants, safety inspection officers, nuclear facility personnel and corporate lawyers.

I certainly agree with your view in so far as...i seemed to take opportunities that have presented themselves before me and run with them...i read on average, a book a week in the area of my profession and wake up each morning with the attitude of how can i better myself each day...i work as a personal trainer specializing in the area of post operative rehabilitation, core conditioning and elite sports training...i have been fortunate enough to work with some amazing people in my time...i guess i would like to advance further in life and often feel that time is against me...i have this vision (or dream) in my mind of being married with kids and living by the beach, running a successful business (which i am formulating a marketing plan for at present), though i feel that is so far away in my life...i am scared that i may not achieve that dream (failure) and perhaps i should be taking risks?...

[RT Wolf]

This thread inspired a blog post:

Mind-Manual » The Root of All Fears

Taking risks like that is actually referring to taking emotional risks, rather than just probabilistic risks. And the real risk there is not knowing or being uncertain if you'll be able to handle it if you do not achieve your dream. But here's the thing, the real risk is in not trying, because then you automatically fail. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take, Wayne Gretzy