Do you believe risk-taking ability is an inherent trait?
Do you feel that a person is either a risk-taker or one who avoids risks?
In the past, my answer to the above questions would have been an emphatic YES.
I always considered myself a risk-averse person. I often used to say that I've only ever taken two significant risks in my life - having an arranged marriage without knowing anything about my wife-to-be and migrating to NZ without knowing anything about my country-to-be! I would joke that with these two risks, I had completed my quota of risk-taking for an entire lifetime!😁
How then did I quit a secure job after 30+ years in the corporate world and plunge into the insecure world of entrepreneurship?
Self-analysis tells me it must have taken a deep sense of unhappiness and unbearable frustration with my career to push me over the edge and begin a new chapter. The fact that it happened at a later stage in life made the risk even greater.
I realized that risk-taking is not necessarily a personality trait you have or don't have. Circumstances can dictate your capacity for risk-taking. Your risk-taking abilities can also be honed through acquiring more knowledge about a situation so that your risk becomes calculated rather than reckless.
If you've ever considered yourself a risk-averse person and envied those who take risks and succeed, rest assured that all it takes is a shift in mindset.
If I can do it, so can you. 💪
Shiv is a life coach based in Auckland, New Zealand.