R.I.S.K

“As you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm. Jump. It is not as wide as you think.”

RISK, as Oxford dictionary defines it is the possibility of loss, injury, or other adverse or unwelcome circumstance; a chance or situation involving such possibility. On the surface it would appear to be something that is to be avoided.

Though it is natural to shelter comforts in appearance that they are permanent, it is itself a non-progressive conservative stance. When faced with a risk, one always seems to be surrounded by voices with negativity. Everybody says don’t.

My argument is not to lead an uncomfortable life, it is not to sell short and miss the unpredictability that is flavoring the life.

The need of security is one that keeps us away from taking risks. As human beings we all want to stick to the familiar and the predictable. Everybody is allergic to ambiguity.

In my opinion, Security is mostly a superstition. The illusion of safety blinds one to the fact that, ultimately life is passing them by while they are hiding in the bushes. Real life is out in the open. A dreamer’s worst enemies are fear and doubt, which keep one away from taking risk.

The first step is to not to be afraid to make mistakes and hold unconventional or unpopular positions, and not give up during flat times.

          A point to be kept in mind is anything you do in life is risky. Risk by definition is possibility of incurring loss or misfortune. So everything you do involves some risk. The risk of being alive is dying. When you marry, you risk divorcing. When you write exams, you risk failure. When you are driving, you risk being involved in an accident. Risk is an integral part of our lives.

Practically taking a risk is lessening the risk of being constant. It is like "to have Ships in harbor are safe, but that’s not what they are built for." When you live for a strong purpose and want to achieve it, then hard work and risk taking aren't just options, they become necessity.

           When I say taking risks can get you close to success, it might not earn you a fortune in some cases, but it can sure leave you wiser with a handful of experience; equally important I also don’t mean to take a dumb risk. The idea of where to start, how to go about and when to end should be well planed and clear at the start. This is what is called an intelligent risk, calculated risk or a smart risk.

The second aspect of intelligent risk taking is to imagine all the things that could possibly go wrong when making a decision on whether or not to take a risk. The trick is to put all the measures in place so as to prevent those things from happening. But you can’t be possibly prepared for every outcome.

However, the question still remains is, how can you take intelligent or calculated risk? Calculated risks are those where the potential downside is limited but the potential upside is virtually unlimited. The potential benefits of risk should outweigh the potential losses, if you are to take it. Otherwise it is not a worthy risk. Knowing what you stand to lose and what to gain; and the proportion between them is always critically essential.

Though it is said “Big risks-Big rewards”, you should be also prepared for the worst case scenario. Considering the downside, will it be a dead end or something that can overcome?

As Lee Brown says “You must always make new mistakes, else you are just lucky” . Sometimes, despite our best efforts, our risks don’t work out the way we want them to. You always can’t go on without a back-up plan. A smart risk always has a plan B or back-up plan in case risk does not go our way. When the risk is going bad and you get a clue of further losing a fortune in future, having a back-up is very handy. I always feel that the most successful people are those who are good at Plan-B. Learning from mistakes can usually make the next risk turnout better.

So no matter what you want in your professional life, you’ll need to take a risk or two to get there. Always remember these results will set you apart from the crowd. The more smart risks you take the more positive results you achieve in your future. Every small success will teach you to take bigger and better risks.

“Often the difference between a successful man and a failure is not one’s better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on his ideas, to take a calculated risk and to act accordingly ” –Andre Malraux

                                                                                                                                                                         Kodavanti Ankur