by Chinkee Tan
Are you afraid to take risks? Don’t worry. That is normal. Sometimes I have to ask myself that question too.
But I am also a firm believer of the teaching that sometimes we have to take risks in order to move forward.
After all, most successful people you and I know have taken countless risks in life. Sometimes they won, sometimes they failed.
For me, winning and failing are both healthy necessities in life. And they are both strong possibilities when taking RISKS.
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” according to Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The computer programming enthusiast Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard University after his sophomore year in order to concentrate full time on Facebook.
From Boston, Massachusetts, he relocated the company to Palo, California. He dedicated his time and energy into making Facebook the next big thing with the understanding that it was a hit and miss start up.
I would like to believe that Zuckerberg knew in his heart that Facebook would be a phenomenal hit.
True enough, by the end of 2004, Facebook attracted one million users. By December 2005, the social networking site reached 5.5 million users. Advertisers started flooding in and Facebook was generating an income Zuckerberg himself probably never thought possible.
Zuckerberg’s journey to becoming Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2010 was not without any adversities. In fact, at the height of Facebook’s success, Zuckerberg encountered the most trying oppositions in his business.
Zuckerberg’s net worth is estimated to have reached $72.7 billion according to Forbes as of July this year. This makes him the fifth richest man in the world today.
If you really think about it, Zuckerberg would not have amassed his current wealth if he decided not to take a risk on Facebook. Imagine leaving Harvard for something that was not yet foolproof.
Here are three easy steps to help you make calculated risks in life:
- Study the opportunity.
- Give your 100 percent effort to make it work.
- When the present opportunity does not work, take new risks!
REMEMBER: TAKING RISKS are for those who are brave enough to go into the unknown.
THINK. REFLECT. APPLY.0
What is stopping you from taking risks? What are areas in your life you are willing to risk on? What risks are you willing to take in order to move forward?