By Felix C. Veroya
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”– T. S. Eliot.
It was about two (2) years ago when I delivered a talk where I met this young man who approached me as I went down the stage. He expressed his appreciation of what I shared and was amused of the things I have done so far as he heard it as I was introduced and while I am sharing my experience during the talk. He then asked me, “What is your secret of how you are able to do all of this at a very young age?”. I was in awkward silence that time since I really do not have some sort of secret but rather life lessons that I acquired by trying out several things.
Recalling that, I realized that maybe the secret lies in my ability and courage to take risks. The Institute of Risk Management defined risk as the combination of the probability of an event and its consequences (ISO/IEC Guide 73). Following the context of this definition, a risk is something that is uncertain in terms of its likelihood of occurrence and its severity.
Try asking your family members, friends, or colleagues about the risk and most of them would answer non – positive words that they can associate with it. This only proves that people view risks on one side alone. The same reason applies while most of us do not take risks. We are afraid of the uncertain. We do not want to gamble on things we do not have full control. We have a little tolerance in making the bad calls of taking these actions and decisions around risks.
We all are expose to risks. I had taken some that yielded positive returns and several that turned into ugly ones. With all of these, I have learned these three (3) things so far.
Everything has associated risks to it.
In everything that we do, risk is there. When we buy a car for example, we are worried of things that could go wrong, that is why we buy an insurance. When we invest our hard-earned money to financial products and instruments there are risks, that is why we only put what we believe we can lose. When we decide to accept a job offer, we are afraid if we can really fit into the job or perform based on what is required, thus most of the times we became hesitant to accept it, losing the chance to see what would happen. These are natural decisions driven by our mindset about risks. Not taking risks bring us to some point of regret. Before this happens, try taking one with precaution and proper assessment.
By not taking risk, learning becomes limited.
In the last 10 years, I have been exposed to several significant risks. I learned to look at risks in two sides – positive and negative. Benefits on those that turned out positive are overwhelming like starting out businesses, getting new job roles or promotions, learning new skills, and doing passion projects. For those which turned out ugly, still I view it as worth trying. I really have not lost anything, only new learned things. Things that I can used to become wiser the next time I encounter similar risks. I had experienced investing in the wrong business, turning out offers that were good ones and not pursuing ideas and seeing other people making it happen. All because of my fear of risk, thus, limiting my ability to learn new things that I can use moving forward.
If you do not take risk, the answer is always no.
Since most of us always contemplate if we will do this or that, I will bet that most of the time, we end up not doing what we are thinking. Time will pass and you will still never know what could happen if you taken that risk. If you just contemplate and do not take action, the answer is always no. Take the courage to lift your first foot so you can change that no to a yes. Believe me, it would take an enormous amount of energy yet, whatever happens, it will be worth it.
We have different risk to take. For as long as you take the courage to take one, you have the chance on learning new things and gaining whatever can be gained. Look at risks as opportunities. In whatever you do, assess risks, and capitalize the opportunities associated with it. You will never know where it can take you unless you take that first step.
