The Necessity of Risk

RISK

Everything in life worth having requires some degree of risk.

We must risk our time. We must risk our comfort. And we must risk our money, security, and pride.

For some reason though, at a young age we are taught to avoid risk. The word risk becomes associated with either physical danger, or the allure of vices like gambling or stealing… “You don’t want to risk getting caught” or “How much money are you willing to risk in Vegas?”

Unfortunately, through all the years of associating risk with negative outcomes, things that will disappoint our parents, or land us in jail… we’ve trained our minds to avoid all forms of risk

Risk is a concept that denotes the precise probability of specific eventualities. Technically, the notion of risk is independent from the notion of value and, as such, eventualities may have both beneficial and adverse consequences.

There are a few extremely important truth contained in the quote above.

First, the notion of risk is independent of the notion of value. In gambling terms, this means that your risk is exactly the same whether you’re betting $5 or $5000. The odds are exactly the same.

In more practical terms, this means that when you approach a woman to ask for her number, you are risking security, comfort, and pride. That risk is independent of her looks or your interest level. If the woman is a perfect 10 or a complete pig, you’re only putting a certain amount of security, pride, and comfort on the line.

With that being said, if you’re going to risk these things… doesn’t it make sense to risk them on what we want?

Second, every time we risk anything there are both beneficial and adverse consequences. If we decide to quit our job to start our own business we are risking money, security, and comfort. This risk is too much for most people to take. But that risk also bring the opportunity for freedom, greater wealth, and personal satisfaction.

So in essence we are always risking something.

Risk is the nature of freedom.

Without the ability to take risks we are not free. For those unable to pursue their dreams because of fear the unknown… you are fooling yourself into believing you are free. You are just as imprisoned as monkey pacing around his cage in a zoo.

More and more I am beginning to believe that the whole nature of life is to teach us the necessity of risk in achieving freedom.

Wouldn’t it make sense. Aren’t those who risk the most rewarded with life’s greatest pleasures?

And even those who don’t fully reach their aspirations, aren’t they more happy and more fulfilled simply because they’ve experienced the freedom most people never realize?

Only you can make the commitment to take the necessary risks. You can read all the book, listen to all the lectures… but when it comes down to it, you’re either willing to release the shackles around your ankles or you’re not. There is nothing anyone else can say to you…