The Risk of Not Taking Risks

All of us want to live more effective lives, but when it comes to doing what we need to do in order to achieve greater success, we often find ourselves shrinking back into fear. Does avoiding risk have any benefits, or are we shooting ourselves in the foot by playing it safe? How can taking risks help us progress, and why is it so important for us to tackle our fears head on? On this episode, we learn why the biggest risk we can take is not risking anything at all.

 

The biggest risk of playing it safe is regression of advancement.
-Doren Aldana  

 

Takeaways 

• With no risk, there can be no reward. Everything worth having comes at a price - whether it be relationships or business. We have to stop letting fear hold us back.
  
  
• Taking risks is vital for moving forward. If we don’t take risks, we’re stagnating. In other words, by not progressing, we’re allowing ourselves to rot.
  
  
• The reason we’re hesitant to take risks is exactly why we need to take them. If we feel inadequate, it’s because we’re not nurturing ourselves. The quickest solution is to take care of ourselves.

 

At the start of the episode, we learnt that as human beings, we’re more prone to protecting ourselves than actively looking for more. We heard that, while a survival instinct, defense will not help us move forward, and that in fact, only defending ourselves without taking any risks puts us in danger of stagnation. 

 

We also learnt:

• The importance of investing in ourselves strategically
• Why we need to focus on what we want more than what we’re afraid of
• Why taking fewer risks will lead to more regrets in the long term