“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly” –Robert F. Kennedy

What person do you know who has achieved something great who has not taken risks?  The willingness to take risks and the skill to make intelligent decisions between risk and irresponsibility will to a large degree determine the level of achievement that you will attain.  Your biggest risk is not the possibility of failing, it is not trying. Burn this thought into your brain: The one sure way to guarantee failure to achieve your dream, is to play it safe.

“The comfort zone is seductive. We all desire comfort. It’s human nature. However, too much comfort does not serve us well. An inability to step out of your comfort zone will profoundly limit your performance.” –Jim McCormick

Within each one of us lies great potential.  The way you explore that great potential is to take risks.  Taking a risk will tell you what works and what doesn’t. If you fail the first time then you know what not to do next time.  Any particular attempt is not failure.  Failure is  staying down after you fall down.  If you get up and try again you will ultimately succeed.  Thomas Edison tried 2,000 times before successfully creating the electric light bulb.

Watch a child learn to walk.  They struggle and they fall.  Then they bounce back up with a smile on their face and they try again.  They are not afraid to fall and somehow intuitively know it is part of the learning process.  Failure is a key to learning.  It is the fastest route to success because you learn far more from your failures than you do from your successes.  I read once that embracing and amplifying risk is the best way to learn.  What an incredibly positive way to look at risk!

“Why is it that we do not see the process of reaching our goals as having steps similar to the ones a child must take in order to learn to walk?  We will stumble and fall in the learning process, but success can only be reached when we are prepared to take those steps, all of them, even the ones where we fail.  The real win is the confidence and experience we acquire which translates into new opportunities for growth, enjoyment and expansion in all areas of our life.” –Bob Proctor

Many people do what you do and so the only way you are going to stand out from the crowd is by doing things differently.  That means taking risks.  Most people don’t take risks because they are afraid, and fear comes from ignorance.  You are afraid of what you haven’t done before and what you don’t know.  How are you going to learn enough not to be afraid anymore unless you step up to the edge and take that first leap of faith?  Fear is simply the unknown and courage is making the decision to learn something new.

Being trapped by fear and refusing to take risks my lead to a safe, boring and mediocre life.  But you will never thrive, learn, love, or grow if you stay in that trap.  You must test and stretch your abilities by taking risk.  But what is risk anyway?  What are you going to lose?  Something you never had to start with cannot be lost.

Imagine seeing that girl across the room who you know intuitively would be the girl of your dreams.  But you are so afraid of rejection that you don’t approach her.  You just can’t take the rejection.  Yesterday you were not with her.  Tomorrow you won’t be with her if you don’t take the risk.  How is that worse?  You lose nothing by asking and you just might gain your lifelong soul mate if you do.

You will seldom lose anything of value by pursuing your dream and if you do you can simply replace it.  You might need a source of income, but you don’t need one particular source of income.  You might need a place to live, but you don’t need one particular place to live.  You might need relationships, but you don’t need one particular relationship.  You might need support, but you don’t need one particular instance of support.

So if you take a risk and walk away from a job, why on earth do you believe you will not be able find another source of income?  If you take a risk and move to another city, what are you really risking?  If doing something that lies deep within your soul causes you to lose a friend or other relationship so what?  Do you want relationships with people who don’t want you to be your authentic self and live your dreams?  Do you think you cannot form other and even better relationships?  Life is growth so step out and grow!

“Remember, it makes no difference whether your goal is starting a new business, buying or building a new home, getting a new automobile, a new position at work, setting a sales record, or getting an honors mark in school. Whatever it may be, you must step out and boldly pursue it. Keep reminding yourself that you have tremendous reservoirs of potential within you, and therefore, you are quite capable of doing almost anything you “set your mind to.” All you must do is figure out how you can do it, not whether or not you can.” –Bob Proctor

Success compounds and it will compound to great heights if we will only let it.  Success requires taking risk.  Taking risk requires courage.  Courage is strengthened by the knowledge that the fear you are feeling is a result of the unknown.  When you step up and take the risk it becomes known and you no longer fear it.  As Bob Proctor said in the quote above, you can do almost anything, you just have to figure out how.  The “if” is not in question.

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in
which you really stop to look fear in the face.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Check out this article by Jonathan and Advance Life Skills for some additional information about risk: How do You View Risk?

Tagged as: courage, fear, risk, success, taking risk