Thomas Jefferson said, “With great risk comes great reward.”. Truly the best things in life are risk-filled. Some of the risk-filled pivot moments come from adventures, and travelling. If you haven’t taken a risk in your life, what are you waiting for?
I’m not suggesting you dive into anything irrational or troublesome. Yet, there are times when being too cautious and calculated can make you feel a bit stuck. Sometimes, a fresh perspective, a change in mindset, and a little faith can brighten things up. Risks disrupt traditions and norms and birth renewal. Doing activities that have a bit of risk to them does something to you, do some skydiving, bungee jumping, cave diving, bull riding, and edge walking.
I have taken a couple of risks in my life, not too many. Sometimes you are just bored and need that adrenaline rush, sometimes it’s serious, you are desperate for change and a move in your life, and circumstances force you to take a risk, whether you like it or not. Like I once booked an Uber to go to the Airport to catch a flight knowing very well that I don’t have cash on me. Not taking that risk was going to get me stuck and miss my flight. At that moment I thought, I would rather risk it with the Uber driver than lose my thousands of rands.
Sometimes what you also consider risks may not appear to be risks to someone else, but when the next person is thrown at that moment, they would realize that this is a risk. To some, moving without a solid plan may not seem like a risk, whilst to another person it is. Looking back at the drastic changes and risks that came during COVID-19, you truly realize that, sometimes all it takes is pressure. It pushed people and businesses out of their comfort zones. According to www.forbes.com, Covid-19 heralded a massive pattern break for all of us, knocking us off our stationary bikes (pedalling fairly routinely and even-paced) and thrusting us directly onto the highway in the fast lane on racing bikes we were not used to, making us pedal furiously to physically avoid being crashed into while trying to remain on our bikes and navigate to some level of safety. We became part of the active VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) zone.
At some point, you are going to get tired of playing it safe. Taking risks builds your core, and you are tested if you can believe in the unknown, and have a positive mindset about things. “Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone”, a line Author Robert G. Allen loves uttering. Take it from him and take risks.
