Calculated risk gives us an opportunity to enjoy the finest things that life has to offer. Greatness in life appears to come only through wise risk-taking. A world without risk-taking results in personal bondage filled with oppression, lack, and limitation.
The popular and great people that live in our time, as well as those who have passed into eternity, are strong in our consciousness because of their ability to take extraordinary risk in life. Great leaders, iconic sports figures, outstanding actors and actresses, and highly captivating song artists and musicians are people who embrace calculated risk as a lifestyle.
Taking calculated risk is a serious requirement for every form of progress, including
Moving forward into new areas of life
Leaving the state of a child and entering into the state of an adult require risk taking if an individual’s life is to be effective. As a child, we are basically dependent on our parents for a decent livelihood, but as we grow up or enter into our teen years, things become more serious. We have to think about becoming self-reliant.
Learning how to work a job and handle money are very important aspects of growing up and becoming an independent adult. The entire journey from childhood to adulthood is successfully shaped by taking a calculated risk. If we are fortunate to have mature and wise parents, the lessons of life become less stressful and frightening. We are able to take a risk with a cushion in case we fall flat on our backs.
Moving forward into new areas of life with a high degree of calculated risk has been and still is the hallmark of populated and fame. The reason we adore those who have taken calculated risk is because of the heroism and glamor such a lifestyle demonstrates.
New Initiatives such as going back to college
Going back to school while in your forties or fifties can be a frightening affair. The advancement of technology and AI is enough to leave some of us dumbfounded. However, in order to move forward into a new area of enrichment or career when nearly all our peers are talking about retirement can feel overwhelming.
Nevertheless, you must do what you have to do if you want to move forward in life. Take a calculated risk and pray for a great outcome.
Many older adults go back to school each year. Some of them are tired or bored with their old careers and desire to try something new. Their passion is so great that they can endure sitting in a classroom with a group of youngsters or taught and commanded by a profession half of their age.
Getting married and raising children
The challenge of getting married and raising children can be a stressful responsibility, especially if you are struggling with finances and making ends meet. The devotion required to maintain a harmonious partnership must be constantly applied, even though you might not feel like being bothered at times.
The fact is that your spouse takes first priority over all your friends and family members. The things you like to personally do with friends must be sometimes put aside if you want to keep peace operating in the relationship.
Tens of thousands of marriages go into an emergency due to lack of communication and affectionate appreciation when it comes to one another. However, it takes courage to build up another person and push them to heights they never knew they could achieve.
Raising children comes with its challenges too. The terrible twos and rebellious teenage years can drain all your energy. Plus you must work and put food on the table. Risk-taking becomes a continuous state of activity in a successful and a happy family.
Our teens challenge our family values and start the process of eliminating their dependency on us, a vulnerable embrace that once made us feel empowered. Now we feel abandoned and must reach common ground with them.
Coming out of a crisis
The onslaught of natural disasters occurring in the United States has resulted in a state of emergency for thousands of families, who must rebuild from the crisis. Hurricane, tornados, forest fires, flooding and strong supercell storms can cost great loss and devastation.
In order to recover from such disasters, calculated risk-taking is necessary. You will need to make major decisions. Should you rebuild and risk another heavy loss or should you move away to an entirely new city or state and start over with newness.
Taking a calculated risk or considering the consequences and acting anyway is the way out of any crisis and taking back control of your life.
Taking on personal challenges
Facing your secret fears, the ones you don’t want anyone else to know about is a prerequisite if you desire to enjoy the finer things in life. Millions of people are afraid to face and expose their demons to the open sight of others. Shame and embarrassment become strong adversaries to such a challenge to your personal bondage.
Nevertheless, you must acknowledge that you are in stagnation and must move out of this dangerous area in life.
Sometimes exposes your secret fears means taking the risk of telling someone who can support you. Enlisting others to support you in overcoming your personal challenges is very heroic. You have decided you will never let a dark habit or routine ruin your life as well as the lives of your family.
Standing up for what is right
A great life is not a selfish affair. You become great by stepping outside of your comfort zone and standing up for what is right. Unethical activities are occurring at an alarming rate every day. If good men, women, and children don’t stand up against the dangers of society, no one else will.
The nation of America is great today because people stand up against fear and won. The Civil War, the Civil Right Movement, the Fair Labor Act, and the like were extraordinary events because good-hearted and God-fearing people stared in the face of death and spit in it, saying enough is enough.
All over the world, the cost of freedom has been to take a risk and stand up against overwhelming states of fear and shame.
Being an Observer
Sometimes taking calculated risk means being an observer. The fear of letting others take charge when we are used to being always at the helm can be frightening. What if the people we are putting our trust to make a terrible mistake?
But we must remember that, on our way to the top, we also made tons of mistakes. That’s how we entered into a degree of mastery over our niche or business.
However, sometimes, due to circumstances beyond our control, we may have to pass the baton for a while or permanently to a trusted partner or one of our family members. Otherwise, we will stand a chance of losing everything if we keep attempting to do it ourselves.
Highlights of Life
The highlights of our lives are usually created through calculated risk-taking. The decision to have children, changing jobs, losing weight, walking away from a difficult and dependent relationship without a plan for survival are all highlights that require stepping out of our comfort zones.
Imagine a life without highlights. That is exactly the case for people who refuse to take a risk. They possess lives of quiet desperation. Loneliness and depression are constant companions
The highlights of my life started when my mother became ill and I had to stumble toward independence, taking all the blows of growing up and taking responsibility for my survival. I took the risk of going to college without support, getting marriage without much money, and working challenging jobs without a guarantee of stability and employee benefits.
Special Occasions
Usually, special occasions require a bit of risk taking, especially when we are involved. Speaking at a friend’s wedding, taking on an extra job to fund our child’s college education or organizing a community event for a specific cause require moving out of our comfort zone into areas we are uncertain of the outcome. Nevertheless, we move forward.
Risk taking for a special occasion gives us an opportunity grows beyond fear. Once we do it a few times, we feel highly empowered and more confident try and reach higher levels of character.
Becoming a Calculated Risk Taker
If you have lived a life of fear and stagnation, it is never too late to become a risk taker. The first thing you must do is acknowledge that your life has been ruined by the fear of failure or fair of what people think of you.
You must realize that life is too short to allow the assumptions of others keep you from living and experiencing the finer things in life.
Once you have come in terms with the shortness of life, you must decide what you really want out of life and confront the fears that stand between you and a fantastic existence, one in which you are not afraid to live and be yourself. But you must be willing to pay the full price of escaping self-bondage. Smell the bliss of freedom and charge forward with all the strength within you.
Forget if you fall on your face a thousand times. Get back up and proceed forward with a new perspective and enthusiasm.
For example, if you desire to meet new people, take the risk of walking up to interesting strangers with no guarantee of success.
If you desire to go back to college, take the risk of walking into a classroom of college freshmen with the intent of overcoming every psychological obstacle of uncertainty and fear.
If you want to have children, take the risk of making it happen, even though you have cherished your selfish freedom for a long time.
The most important thing is to move out of your comfort zone into the areas of life you have always avoided but if confronted, will bring you greater levels of freedom, joy, and prosperity. Never avoid a challenge that will take you to the next level.
Avoid Foolish, Irrelevant Risk Taking
However, never take a daredevil risk or foolish risk that has nothing to do with honesty and integrity. Never take a risk, regardless of the money or fame involve, that diminishes or robs other people of their worth, value and money. All risk-taking should add value to you as well as the people in the circle of your influence.
Calculated risk-taking is what will separate you from common people who worship others to the neglect of their own gifts and talents. Life is too short to continue to elevate others above your own self and allow your potential contributions to the world to fall by the wayside. Embrace the extraordinary power of risk-taking and make your life masterpiece.
