Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Become a Risk Taker
Staying safe will only get you far, but taking risks will take you places you’ve never imagined
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
― Helen Keller, The Open Door
Why be a Risk Taker?
My wife has recently gone through early retirement after spending 20 years in the same hospital she has worked for since she started her career. Many of our friends were quite surprised with the move with some of them asking why she had to retire at such a young age.
She’s been planning this for a long time already and I supported her decision because like me, she’s also been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and would rather be a risk taker than an employee. I may have influenced her but one thing’s for sure. She wasn’t thrilled reporting to work everyday and was just waiting for year number 20 to come.
You all know that I lost my job back in February and was met with a choice of whether to come back to corporate or try freelancing for a change and we all know how that turned out. It was definitely a huge risk on my part with three children depending on me and believe me, I was scared too but I also told myself that I’ll never really know what’s at the end of the rainbow if I don’t try to go there myself.
I’m glad I took the risk because I would have never known how it’s like to work your own hours, not go through traffic, and be with family all the time have I not. Three years ago I was only dreaming of this scenario where I can bring my kids to school in the morning, work in between, pick them up again in the afternoon, then continue working until I’m tired. I am now living that ream and boy am I glad the risk taker in me showed up.
Here are 5 reasons why you should start being a risk taker too.
1. It’s Liberating
My wife is enjoying the same privileges I have now and she’s got several small businesses that she can do on her own time too. Not to take anything away from employment, but there really comes a time when you just get tired of the daily grind. There will come a time when you’ll be asking yourself if it’s still even worth it. She has reached that stage and I did too. What did it get us?
It gave us freedom and that feeling of being in control. We no longer have to please a boss so we can get a raise or be promoted to a higher position. We no longer have to rush every morning so we won’t get late. We no longer have to hurry back home because no one’s looking after the kids. These would have been difficult if we were still both employees.
2. It Drives You to Perform
One of the best things being a risk taker has taught us is that when you take risks, you have to be ready for the fallout. You must be ready to take on the challenges that may come and we both know that money will always be one of the problems we will have which is why we’ve become more driven with our sources of income.
I started an online business apart from my freelance projects while my wife started her own too. Though our current setup is more relaxed compared to regular employment, we’re not complacent and always looking to improve because the good thing about what we have right now is that our income depends on our efforts. if we want to earn more, we have to work more unlike in employment where you get a fixed monthly check regardless of your efforts.
3. More Opportunities
When I started freelancing, I was only focused on getting more clients and earning more money but little did I realize that being in this field can lead to more opportunities. As time went by, I’ve had clients who have become regulars and some of them have been so kind to even get me projects from other clients too.
The home-based setup also allowed me to start an online business that I can also do flexibly and I’ve got other projects in the works as we speak.
My wife’s original plan for a business hasn’t really started yet but almost immediately, she’s got two other businesses to replace it with to keep her busy. Opportunities are endless when you become a risk taker and it’s been working out for us so far.
4. It Boosts Your Confidence
When the risk you took pays off, it encourages you to take more and that’s what happened to us. My fear when I went to freelancing was that I may end up without a client at times but I haven’t been idle since I started 7 months ago. I became more confident about my capabilities and would sometimes ask clients for more projects, something I don’t think I had the fortitude to do before.
Collectively, my wife and I became more positive and we would always motivate each other and tell each other that we can do this and that we can continue to raise our family with our current setup. It’s so much better when you don’t depend on anyone else but yourself or in our case, ourselves.
5. You Learn from the Experience
This is absolutely the ultimate prize of being a risk taker. The lessons we learned have really helped us to improve as individuals and as a team. One of the things we learned was that once you’ve overcome the fear, the rest is entirely up to you.
We also learned that there would come a point when discontentment is just something you can’t tolerate anymore and that you have to do something about it.
Lastly, as risk takers, we learned that it’s all going to be worth it in the end. You just have to stay positive and never quit no matter how tough it gets.
We’re definitely happier now. We get to spend more time together, with the kids and it’s been really fun for them too. It’s every kids’ dream to have both their parents at home all the time and we’re glad they’re experiencing it.
Over to You
What’s holding you back from becoming a risk taker? What are you waiting for?
I would love to hear from you so feel free to leave a comment below or share your stories. Your contribution is always welcome!
Originally published in http://lifeshowyouliveit.com
