The importance of risk

While you are sitting here reading this very sentence, I want you to imagine how we got to where we are today. Dig a little deeper than well today came from following on from yesterday... I want you to consider how we have evolved; both technologically speaking and in terms of our material environment. If evolution is a trusted theory, or indeed if we were created ex nihilo, then there was once a point in this universe's lifetime when there was little to this earth. 

Because we were all born in the middle of the story, i.e. at a point whereby we are significantly more advanced in development in comparison to even just 100 years ago, it's really quite easy to overlook and take for granted our roots and progressive evolution. 

Nothing of what we have achieved so far, and will continue to discover and create, would be possible without taking risks. The word 'risk', to some, conjures up images of being exposed to danger, harm and loss. Others, notably entrepreneurs, see risk as the necessary factor in the equation to discovery and ultimately, success. I am a firm believer that nothing worth achieving in life comes easy.

Risk averse people tend to fall into the trap of thinking that risk only relates to entrepreneurs, but that's an easy mistake to falsely believe in. In choosing to go to university, young people take the risk in deciding to better their lives. It doesn't pay off for everyone, but for the majority this risk does; for the chance of success outweighs the risk of failure. And the same goes for school leavers opting to go straight into employment. It's the exact same formula and balance of risk/success. 

If everyone opted for the simple route in life, we would be without so many advancements. The thought of Sir Tim Berners-Lee not creating the internet is quite literally unthinkable. Sure there is the chance that a risk may not pay off, but instead of reading that as failure look at it as a learning curve. The best in the business didn't reach their peaks without a mountainous climb and set backs along the way. The amazing aspect to human existence is that we aren't aware of if we have, or ever will reach our ultimate potential, and so the scope for continuous development is infinitely open.

It's time to believe in yourself, erase the negative connotations associated with risk and embrace the infinite landscape of opportunity that is available to you in life. Why be a fleck in the existence of the universe when you can be respected and known for a valid purpose; for having achieved something worth remembering? It doesn't matter how big or small your impact is; everyone's climb to success is equally important in life... what matters is that you believed in yourself and gave something a go.