Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

The best strategy therefore is to take calculated risks, as often as possible. Calculated risk means evaluating all the facts at your disposal. It is not possible to be aware of all the pertinent facts applicable to a risky situation, but you can find enough detail to make the calculation good enough to mitigate extreme loss.

Whether you succeed or not, taking calculated risks has many advantages. There is personal learning and growth to be realised from every risky situation that you take, and there is a lot of literature out there, to support the notion that, we learn and grow more from circumstances in which we fail, rather than from circumstances in which we succeed.

They say luck favours the brave. Be bold and brave enough to take calculated risks, and the world will notice, and opportunities will present themselves because you dared to take the risk. Risk taking can be as simple as walking up to a girl and asking her out, or asking your boss for a raise. Unless you are bold and put yourself out there, you cannot expect the desired positive outcome.

Success will not simply fall out of the sky onto your lap, you have to chase it. And without taking calculated risks, you won’t be much of a chaser. Playing it safe does not help and is a limiting mentality. Taking calculated risks, is a key ingredient in taking what’s rightfully yours.

I should point out that it might not be easy at first to be bold and take calculated risks. Risk aversion and the fear response associated with taking risks are learned responses. Since avoiding risk at all times is something we learn, it is possible to unlearn it, you just have to take baby steps in conditioning yourself to take more calculated risks.

In my experience, opportunities are out there, only waiting to be discovered. The law of averages dictates that you will find that elusive success, the more doors you open, and you cannot realistically open more doors, without exposing yourself to some degree of risk. Ultimately, what will help you realise your ambitions is to acknowledge that in life, nothing ventured nothing gained, is a great motto to live by.