Want to Become the Best Version of You? Take More Risks.

Published: Tue, 09/27/22

If you think trying is risky wait till you get the bill for not trying.
- Jim Rohn

Jim Rohn had a knack for getting to the root of an idea with his funny but wise observations. You can’t disagree with his point of view, though. Don’t get me wrong. There’s no shame in not being ambitious, being happy with taking life as it comes. It’s just that you’re leaving so much potential on the table. As we say in Jamaica, live the life you love, love the life you live.
I, for one, want to live up to my true potential and meet a future self I can be proud of and who took the necessary risks.

No Risk, No Story.

According to the world-renowned psychologist Dan Gilbert even if your plans don’t pan out, we can still tell ourselves a productive story about it. But if you don’t take a risk, there is no story to tell, just a nagging doubt of what could have been.

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We don’t have to jump out of planes or climb mountains to understand the concept of risk. Air travel is risky. Driving a car is risky. Being in a relationship with others is risky. Some might say that just living life is risky. We are no strangers to it, we just don't want to use it to our advantage. Risk, for some, means a situation that exposes us to potential harm, danger, or loss, but that’s not quite right. I’m not being pedantic, but we’ve been misusing the word.

Risk is precise and quantifiable. If you flip a coin, you don’t know whether it will come up heads or tails, but through experience and school, we have a fair idea about the probability of winning or losing.

On the other hand, uncertainty results in you having no idea what to expect. You can’t calculate whether the risk is worth it because you don’t know what it is.

The problem is that our brains love certainty, but gaining knowledge is the only way you can have an iota of certainty in life and not fool yourself into believing otherwise. Uncertainty is not where you want to be. Making a calculated risk is your only chance of winning. That is why I read a lot and learn new skills as much as possible because I don’t stand a chance without it.

I can’t promise things will work out even with the knowledge and the will to take calculated risks, but Gentle Reader I can promise you this, you’ll be beyond the surviving mode most of us are engaged in. Because surviving is not living; we can only truly live by taking risks.

“If you dare nothing, then when the day is over, nothing is all you will have gained.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

Be your own hero.