The risk of avoiding risk

The risk of avoiding risk

Tim Connor

Risk – the danger that injury, damage, or loss will occur. The statistical chance of danger from something. To incur the chance of something harmful, dangerous, or detrimental due to a decision or action.

I really don’t like any of these definitions although they would appear to be formal and appropriate.  So here is mine. When we act and have the potential for dealing with consequences, circumstances, choices or decisions not turning out in a favorable way or how we would have liked, hoped or desired.

Every day we all take risks – think about it. 

-You are traveling down a two way highway at 60 MPH while cars are racing toward you separated by only a few feet.

-You order a meal at a restaurant not knowing how the food is handled prior to its serving.

-You start a new relationship or begin a new career position hoping that they will turn out positively.

There are literally millions of risks that humans take every day but they seldom see them as risks but just going through the routines of life.  What I would like to discuss here are other types of risks, ones that are neither necessary nor required as we pass through life but that can change our futures in a significant way – both positive and negative.

To start with I’m sure you have learned that there are no guarantees in life except one – we are all going to die – only the how and when are uncertain.  If this is true then everything else in life requires a certain degree of risk – some we take easily and quickly while others take more time and contemplation to decide and then act.

What I want to focus on are the consequences of avoiding actions that may be difficult where the primary reason is to avoid the pain or negative outcomes of risks taken.

Think about it;

How will you ever know if a career decision is right if you don’t take the leap?

How will you know if a potential relationship will give you all that you desire in it if you don’t take the plunge?

How do you know if an investment can pay off in a huge profit if you don’t make it?

How do you know if moving forward with any decision will be the right one if you don’t make it?

As I have said, yes, there are always potential negatives with any action or decision but the bigger question is – what will you lose or fail to gain if you don’t take the risk?  And the answer is – you will never know and may often have to live with the regret of not knowing.  Ever been there?  I know I have.

One of my favorite quotes is by Mark Twain when he once said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the things you did do.”

Risk is never easy and why?  Generally speaking most people hate uncertainty and the loss of control but it’s impossible to know the outcomes of anything in advance and control the outcomes . . . well we have little control over most of life’s circumstances and outcomes.

My mentor, Charlie Tremendous Jones once told me, “Stop trying to make right decisions make the decision and then make it turn out right.”

That was a simple phrase that changed what decisions I have made since and when and how I have made them.

What are the consequences of risk?

Positive ones are – you stretch your experience, knowledge and wisdom.  You gain the courage to make other often more difficult choices and you learn to trust your intuition or inner guidance system.  The negatives – you will have to live with and take the responsibility of the outcomes of any choice or action if they don’t turn out as planned, desired or hoped for, you may earn the scorn of others for choosing poorly and you will tend to be even more cautious with future decisions or actions.

The issue for most people is simply – can they live with the potential negatives of taking a risk if the hoped for positives don’t manifest either short or long term.

I currently know several people who are avoiding making a decision (taking a risk in different life areas) and these inactions are being driven by a history of concern for past negative outcomes or fear of the unknown due to previous decisions or risks taken.

One last quote, another of my favorites, “It is better to take a dangerous chance than it is so sit safely waiting for something worse.” By Cochise (a Native American Legend).

What risks are you avoiding today or now?  What are your primary reasons or motives for waiting or inaction?  Regardless of whether you act or wait can you control the outcomes?  Think about it.

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out
how far one can go."
T.S. Eliot