Taking Risks

Risk is inversely correlated to knowledge and skill. Two people taking on the same challenge with different skill levels are not taking on the same amount of risk. So, to lower your risk, add an expert to your team--or become one yourself.

People have seen some of the things I've done and told me they couldn't do something that risky. I have taken the path that pushes my boundaries time and again. I have changed my job and the entire industries I worked in twice. I have started multiple organizations from scratch with no investment and no one else on the team. For fun, I do things like learn how to kitesurf and heli-ski. So, it can look like I'm reckless--or at least willing to take major risks with my career and my physical safety.

But they don't see that before I made each industry shift, I was working in that space on the side for years, building relationships and learning skills. It was not a blind leap at all. I already knew I could do the work and already had job invitations.

And before I do any of the extreme sports trips I love, I research the sport deeply, train with instructors in practice gear, use pro-level safety equipment (which always has redundancy), bring a team of people with me (so I'm not alone out there) and also have a pro-guide come along to manage the experience and keep us from making mistakes. 

Things are not risky in isolation. Risk is a calculation to compare the level of your skill to the uncertainty of the activity. Sure, a ten-year-old child shouldn't drive a car. That would be recklessly risky. But an adult can go through training, wear a seat belt, and drive a car without taking on too much risk. The driving conditions don't change--you do.

So, if you have a dream and people have told you it's too risky--or you have told yourself that--it doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. It also doesn't mean you must take a blind leap off the cliff to pursue your dream. It means you will have to get more knowledgeable and grow more skillful until your ability is high enough to make it a reasonable risk.

What risky situations have you grown into--that used to be too much but now aren't that big of a problem anymore?