‘Risk’ – Inspires Luck
Nothing
new comes out of being ordinary. It is impossible to produce superior performance unless we do something
different from the majority.
Life
canvas is large which can be painted with our great deeds. However, to attain
higher altitudes of glory we have to get consumed by our ideas, breach the
comfort zones, take calculated risk and work hardest towards the mission.
Whether it means
overcoming fear to perform on stage, proposing the sweetheart we like or investing
in new business ventures; some of the life’s most rewarding experiences come as
the result of taking risks.
No outcome is ever
cent percent certain, margin of risk always exists and the quantum of risk
increases when the stakes are higher. If we
regularly dine with cannibals, we run a risk of being eaten by them. Therefore,
take risk but not brute one; but an informed one, look before you leap, calculate
before you move. Also, ensure someone is giving you safety cover as the risk is
a shifting illusion.
Thought of failure
scares! However, failure builds character, makes us stronger and more
resilient. People who fail repeatedly, develop persistence in the face of
difficulties. Failures need to be embraced upon, learned from and moved on. Abraham Lincoln had lost eight elections, had
failed in business twice and suffered a nervous breakdown all before becoming
one of the greatest American presidents.
Confidence is an
important attribute which risk-takers have in them. Confidence is a learn-able
skill, a make-believe thing i.e. we have to keep telling self that we are not
scared, that we have all the courage and confidence needed to take risk. We can develop
confidence by equipping ourselves with the knowledge and skills needed to
achieve a mission.
Figure
out the most intimidating things about the big risk we are about to take. We
need to do thorough home-work on the subject in order to better insulate
ourselves from unfavorable resultant. Also, we need to know when to change the
course and not keep sticking to our first goal as we would have invested so
much of time and effort. We must know when it’s time to quit and restart with
renewed vigor on the newer path.
In wealth
multiplication, we risk losing some or all of the money we have invested in the
business or in the financial instruments, due to- volatility, inflation,
defaults, concentration risk, unfavorable regulatory changes or other market
dynamics.
We may
choose to make investments that guarantee safety by offering fixed rate of
return, with near zero default risks viz. sovereign bonds. However, the price
for this safety could result in a very low return on our investment, coming as a
trade-off with an opportunity to earn higher returns if we were to take higher
risk of investing in instruments like Mutual Funds or Direct Equity. ‘In investing what is comfortable is rarely
profitable’.
Wise
thing to do is to take calculated risk by gaining skills and knowledge of the
subject. We should not over leverage, must do credibility check of the companies
and the issuers of financial instruments, and cleverly diversify our
investments across different asset classes and sub-classes within each asset
class to earn handsome return. We need to know the rules of the game we intend
to play for sure, in order to succeed.
Accustomed to taking risks, would move us away
from the mediocre way of thinking and living. Instead of limiting within the
cocoon of so called safety, we gain the momentum needed to reach out for newer
opportunities in our career or business. Risk builds our self-confidence and
self-respect, empowers us to feel stronger. Take the risk as that shall get us
some of our biggest rewards of life.
I close this article with a line of ‘Iveta Cherneva’- “Only those who play win. Only those who risk win. History favors risk-takers. Forgets the timid. Everything else is commentary.”
Author: AJIT SINGH
