Taking risks can lead you to a lot of places. It can help you realize a lot of things about yourself and your career that you never could have imagined if you stay in your comfort zone.
Risks can take you to new heights, help you reach new milestones in your career and even help you climb the professional ladder.
Yes, taking risks means… well, risk. But if you do it strategically, the benefits can be immense. Here are the 10 risks worth taking.
1. Take a chance on someone inexperienced
When you have the option to hire someone who ticks every box and fulfills every need you advertised for the position, that’s what you’ll get. A bunch of ticked boxes.
But if you hire someone who fits, maybe, half of the advertised skills you wanted – and has that extra something in the energy and enthusiasm department — you’ll get someone who will surprise you and who will work hard to prove why hiring them was the best idea.
Additionally, by hiring a slightly less qualified or experienced person, you also give them the opportunity to grow and show you what they can do.
So take the risk and give them a chance.
2. Make peace with someone you don’t get along with
Whether you made an error in the workplace or a co-worker hurt your feelings, we’ve all been in the position where we’ve been at odds with a colleague. But for some reason, we often delay apologizing or somehow mending the connection.
But, at some point, we have to realize that we can’t go on with burned bridges.
Mending the connection can, in turn, can go a long way to improving your relationships with other co-workers because you will also realize that it is much better to have a civil workplace relationship with them than the one you’re currently in.
So, whatever happened, take the step to fix things.
3. Push yourself out of your comfort zone
Getting yourself out of your comfort zone has many benefits, particularly when it comes to accepting new challenges and opportunities.
By being open to new things, you allow yourself to see the world in a different way and it will also help you see what you can do — and how far you can reach.
Additionally, getting out of your comfort zone doesn’t mean making drastic changes right away. They can be small, gradual things that build up to your ultimate goal, like being the boss someday.
Doing this will also help you realize that it’s okay to fail sometimes because then you will know how much harder you are willing to work to achieve your goals.
4. Embrace new or risky ideas
By embracing new and ‘out there’ ideas, you start to think outside of the box and be more creative.
This can be very liberating because you will have a ‘no limits’ attitude towards what you should do or where something can head.
Additionally, thinking outside of the box just might prove to be your strong suit when you work — because you’ll be making faster and better decisions.
5. Embrace the unknown
Some risks can have a very positive outcome because, what might seem like the riskiest idea at the time, might work out for the best in the end … your boss or investors might love how innovative it is.
Additionally, another positive outcome to venturing outside the boundaries is that you are getting rid of the fear associated with the unknown and embracing it to see how far you can reach when you try something different.
6. Make a decision and don’t look back
Regret is a terrible feeling and can make us want to turn back time and change certain decisions or events in our life.
But, what we often don’t realize is that the biggest risk we can take is to just make a decision, despite how unknown the future is. We just have to remind ourselves not to look back.
7. Think things through
While taking risks strategically is good and has the potential to really help you, your career and your business, it still never hurts to stop for a moment and think about what your plan will be. Even if pausing to evaluate delays the overall plan.
This is because one of the last things you’ll want to do is to act too fast and end up regretting your decision. By thinking it through first, you give yourself the best opportunity for success.
8. Take charge of your own life
When someone has a decision to make, the easy thing to do is ask someone else for their opinion and go with that. The difficult thing is to make the decision yourself and own it.
By doing this, you take back any power someone has over you and keep it for yourself. Where it belongs.
This can really help you in your career because you will be stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility for your business and your own decisions. This can also help you move up in the business world and help you earn the respect you deserve from other people and businesses.
9. Confront your fears
By confronting your fears, you are able to show that you can stand up, take control of your life and say ‘no more!’.
By knowing and facing your fears, you will realize what has been holding you back and keeping you from reaching your full potential, which just might be becoming the boss or the CEO.
This can be done by taking some time away to think about what you want to achieve and what might be getting in your way.
Remember, it’s rare to get things right the first time, so you should never be afraid to take risks or fail in the first place because not confronting your fears is perhaps the biggest risk of all.
10. Forget regret and try walking away
No matter how high up the ladder you’ve climbed in the business world, you should always feel like you have more to give and more places to go in your career. And if that happens to be a new job or career for that matter, then so be it.
So, no matter how much time and effort you’ve put into your career thus far, you should never be afraid to walk away and try something new, because you’re still working towards the future and the overall betterment of yourself, your career and your business.
Takings risks are a beneficial way for you to improve yourself, your career and your business. This is because, without them, you won’t discover anything about yourself or be able to progress or build the career/business you want.
By Rowena Nagy: a Journalist at The Business Woman Media. A graduate in Journalism, Media and Communications, she is passionate about writing, travel journalism, video journalism and Public Relations.