Risk. Have You Had Your Recommended Daily Allowance?

Be careful crossing the street. Chew your food throughly. Don’t do that, you could get hurt.

We are raised to avoid taking risks. How many times in life have you been told to not take risks by your friends and family? As well intentioned as they may be, if you decide to become a full-fledged member of your own destiny, you’d better do a little every now and then.

One of my friends from years gone by started out as a client of mine. He was, at first, a very small client, and really didn’t warrant me spending much time with him. His business wouldn’t make me or my employer much money, but he was a very dynamic guy. He had an idea to start a company where he would sell a service to individuals who wanted support on various software products. He used to tell me about his dream to grow his company from two guys to millions of dollars of revenue. I didn’t know much about the business, but I thought he was on to something. This guy risked EVERYTHING in his life to chase his dream. What kind of risk am I talking about? He had a nice secure middle-management job making a six-figure salary, luxury cars, nice home and a comfortable life. He decided to leave all of that to chase that dream.

What happened to him? I watched him go from scraping by to a multi-millionaire in just a few short years. But along the way he took calculated risks, not all were successful, and in the end he not only reached his goals, but far exceeded them.

He has always stuck with me. The risks I watched him take and the ups and downs I saw him go through served as inspiration to me and so when I think about what I need to do to make more of an impact, I think about how I can leave my ‘comfort zone’ and take a risk?

What kind of risks? Am I talking about flying out to Las Vegas and betting your savings? In short - NO!

Make sure you understand that there is a difference between calculated risk and gambling. One is understanding the situation that you’re presented with, realizing that in order to achieve some success, you have to leave the protective womb of safety and go out on a limb. Gambling is just blindly hoping that the situation works out without any rhyme or reason. Don’t mix the two up.

What are some risks that you should take? Life presents you with something each day, not all are big risks, here are a couple:

* Go to a Chamber of Commerce meeting and introduce yourself to as many people you can
* Call the CEO of that company you know your services would be perfect for even though everyone has said it’s impossible to get through and she won’t take your call
* Tell your client that he’s wrong and about to make a big mistake
* Train for a marathon
* Ask that attractive accountant on the 3rd floor if she’d like to get some lunch
* Tell your boss what you really think of him and to stick the extra bonus pack of Hershey Kisses you got as a holiday bonus where the sun don’t shine because you’re starting your own company.

Okay that last one is a joke, but maybe it’s not. Risk is something that can be scary or just makes you hesitate. If you follow your daily life and if you don’t change your behavior you’re just hoping for something to change.

Don’t just hope - risk a little, gain a lot.