Risk. It's Everywhere, But Needed to Succeed.
Hey Everyone,
Today, I want to talk about something that's always on our minds as entrepreneurs: RKS. Whether you're just starting out or you've been in the game for a while, the concept of risk is something we all grapple with. But what is risk really? And should we be taking it? Let’s dive into that.
Key Takeaways:
- Understanding Risk: Risk isn't just about money. It's also about time, energy, and the sacrifices you make to pursue your business goals.
- The Risk of Inaction: The greatest risk you can take is doing nothing. Without taking action, you won’t advance your skills, knowledge, or earning potential.
- Embrace Mistakes: Taking risks means you might make mistakes, but these are essential for growth. View every forward action as a step toward success rather than a potential failure.
- Action Over Fear: Don’t let the fear of taking risks hold you back. Inaction is the only thing that will keep you from reaching your goals.
When you're starting out in the online world, everything can feel risky. There are expenses, time commitments, and the challenge of balancing your business with an already busy life. But while there's a certain level of risk involved in taking action, you need to consider the risk of not doing anything.
If you don’t take action, you won’t improve your skills, gain new knowledge, or increase your earning potential. As entrepreneurs, our success hinges on our ability to take risks, learn from them, and keep moving forward. Don’t be afraid to try something new, to make mistakes, and to grow from them. The biggest risk is staying still.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. How do you perceive risk in your business? What experiences have you had with risk, and how did it shape your journey? Let’s get the conversation going in the comments below.
Recent Comments
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Hi Kyle:
Thank you for this word of encouragement! The fear of taking risk can have a crippling effect on starting or moving forward with a venture.
Recently, I invested in spending more than I wanted to on an advertising campaign. My focus was on promoting what would potentially be my biggest income earning business partnership.
After a few months, it became evident this campaign had failed. I took another risk and started a new campaign and changed my focus. My budget is more than I wanted to spend. However, this time I'm confident it's not a failure.
The harvest may be slow in coming, but it's promising. Do I regret taking that risk, especially the second time around? No. I'm sowing seeds expecting results over time.
It's a part of the journey!
Veron
Risk is a "risky" thing! I feel like every day is a risk. We get up we take that step outside or sit at our computers and we risk. We put our business out there and risk being rejected. We put our ideas out there and risk being ridiculed.
There is always risk, but I heard once that the greater the risk, the great the reward. So, I'm taking some risks!
Thanks for the good motivation even though I didn't get time to read it until Wednesday!
Karin
Every day we are presented with risks, and those are simply decisions we get to make on finding out the unknown. Whether it is turning the corner when walking down the street, or whether that is taking action on something new in your business.
Risk = Reward as you mention, and without some level of risk, there are going to be no rewards. Keep pushing, keep taking small risks throughout the week, and your personal advancement, your skill set and your business are going to thank you. :)
I'm a Forex daytrader. Risk and losses are the two major things we talk about the most. A trader would never trade a single asset if he or she was afraid of taking some risk. Risk management and cool head gets you there.
An old friend of mine - God rest his soul - told me this about 23 years ago: "If you don't do something because you are afraid of the risk or losses, you will stick with that the rest of your life in the 'what if? wheel' and you will never know. But if you go for it, no matter what, if you lose, you lose, if you win, you win, but you will know. And you won't get stuck in the wheel."
Yeah, absolutely applies to your industry. There is risk in any and every investment, it is a matter of gauging risk and the ability to do that is often the result of smaller risks that you have taken in the past that have indicate what the appropriate move trade is, and the one to avoid is.
Let's all get out of the "what if" probability by taking some risk. Thanks for sharing your insights Andy, some really awesome stuff here. ;)
Kyle, I have to say that I am truly a reckless person! I take huge risks all the time because I'm not prepared to compromise my values or sacrifice my dreams. As you say, the most significant risks are inaction, passivity, and complacency.
One of my favourite quotes that really changed my life is:
'Man –every (hu)man–is an end in himself, not a means to the ends of others; he must live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself...."
(substitute 'human' for 'man and include both gender pronouns)
– Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged:1957)
I spent many years in the traditional work system - my second-hand life - empowering others and neglecting myself. Now it's my turn, and I've got nothing to lose by risking everything to achieve my ideals!! I truly strode into the limelight 18 months ago - my First-Hand Life.
Wealthy Affiliate makes taking risks relatively painless because of the solid foundation you, Carson and your team have laid down!
Our life purpose or sense of life is also crucial to this discussion! If we know why we exist and what kind of a stitch we are in the vast tapestry of all life, it integrates all other concerns. It galvanizes one's values and permits one to enjoy life on a wide scale and radiate that joy to others!
Fear can only undermine the human ego, not the human spirit!
I live in Japan, where we've just had a big earthquake and are likely to have a massive one anytime! With helmets and a solar survival kit at the door, we learn here to live through the spirit, not the ego. If the house falls around our ears, we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, smile widely, and start over again!
Every moment here could be seen as a risk! So, risks within a business context seem like bubbles of foam on a fast-flowing stream to me.
Great topic! Sorry!! Long-winded!
You get me going Kyle! 🎇
May the risks everyone takes this week move them ever forward!! The human spirit is indomitable. 🌺🌟
Best 🙏🏼
Linden
Love that. You have nothing to lose to risk everything to achieve your own ideals. That is exactly it, and the mindset that is going to take you wherever you want to go...and the mindset anyone and everyone needs to follow to achieve THEIR ideal (which is different for everyone).
Love your perspective not just on business, but on life. Pick up, dust yourself off, learn lots, be happy, move forward, succeed.
Great video Kyle. Risk may be more frequent through our journey than we actually realize. An example I have been experiencing now is when I am experimenting with google setting as well as with the wordpress plugins. I have been making mistakes. Some of the mistakes I have learning to use and there are still some today I'm still working through. I can say that risk came be painful but work through the issues to gain the knowledge neccessary for a winners success.
These are definite risks. Anytime the output is unknown, the action is carrying some risk...but that action is what is going to lead to a learning experience, new skills, some failures/successes, and momentum in your business.
Keep taking those risks Rick, moving forward is the only way!
Fear the greatest enemy of all, for any one person to achieve any form of greatness fear must be eliminated and not be allowed to take root in your mental attitude, action is a result of your mental attitude be it positive or negative and with fear in your mental attitude the fruits will be negative,
Well said. Fear of failure has significant risks, to the point of preventing people from taking any form of action...which is the greatest risk. No action, means no advancement. Standing still is not the way to success, moving forward and taking risks is!
Hi Kyle!
Without taking a risk there will never be successes. Getting out of bed in the morning can be a risk for some of us! LOL
I have always taken the entrepreneurial risks in my life. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost, but I never gave up.
To be successful at anything you have to risk something.
Trust in yourself, take action every day, and believe and achieve!
Getting out of bed can be a risk, in particular if your first step is going to be an achy one (which mine are sometimes after sports injuries).
But yes, risks are everywhere. Action is risk. Inaction is the greatest risk though as we all know the outcome of that...lack of evolution, innovation, and success.
Love your message here Howard! :)
In the beginning, I was hesitant to invest any money for fear of being duped. Now, I finally understand that tools and community are needed to succeed.
I’ve carved out time in my day for my online business and also cut out lots of distractions that weren’t adding value. Things like useless games on my cell, Netflix binging, and the rock band I was in. Felt like I needed to focus more on what I wanted for my future.
So I’d say, TIME, is the biggest risk for me, because I don’t want to look back a year later and see that I got nothing accomplished. I try my best to balance everything out but it’s hard in the beginning stages.
Time is a big risk for everyone, and what we spend our time on. If we are not being wise with it, then we could ultimately be leaving a lot on the table, and accomplishing much less than we could if we invested our time into things that mattered to our "future outcome".
Don't look back, look forward. Take risks, and do so frequently. These don't have to be taking massive life risks, but small daily risks really lead to the best education and understanding what truly works the best. :)
Good morning Kyle,
Thank you for another great motivational video, Kyle!
That's a great way of putting it, "view the idea of inaction as the greatest risk because that is the only thing to prevent you from your current position to where you want to go"!
I think many of us think of a mistake as a terrible thing. I guess that none of us want to make a mistake, but the main thing is that we learn from our mistakes and move forward as every successful entrepreneur does.
Fear is a terrible thing, it literally stops people in their tracks and stops them moving forward. I think we all know the difference of what a positive mindset does, being positive and dropping fear, is so important.
Have a fantastic day.
Roy
Fortunately when we are children, our parents (in particular at an early age) celebrate our mistakes. We fall to the ground when we attempt to walk (taking a risk), we are cheered on the next time we do. We eventually learn how to walk...then run...then sprint.
But we lose this as we get older. We fear mistakes. Schools punish us for mistakes. Our parents often times do. When in reality, we are just testing out things that may have a little risk and will lead us to knowing our boundaries, knowing what works, and ultimately what doesn't.
These small risks lead to a lot of learning, and an understanding of the path that will take us to what works with the utmost efficiency. Without taking these chances, we would never know and our path to success is going to be a very long, drawn out one...if at all. :)
Good morning Kyle,
That first paragraph is a very good way of explaining things, Kyle!
It's funny how we forget those early things we learned as a child!
I have seen people over the years take risks and eventually excel with their business; this includes family members. I don't want to go with the crowd, I want to be unique and be different. I mean that in the right way! Being self-employed for 40+ years has enabled that. And being able to work online is such a wonderful thing, despite the many expensive mistakes in the early days!
Have a fantastic day.
Roy
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Very interesting topic Kyle,
Risk is a very vast topic and get really philosophical. We can talk about opportunity cost for example. Meaning, my time in blogging I can use it for doing something else such as looking for a job, or seeking other business opportunities.
My personal view on risk with online business and realm of blogging is that for two years, and for personal circumstances, I couldn't discipline myself yet to a specific routine, meanwhile I am looking at the money that I am spending on the project and it is piling up without any revenue yet.
Uneducated risk, is while facing the above in my discipline and life circumstances to think of paid advertising. This to me, is a risk that I am not willing to take at this time.
Risk, in my humble opinion should have two factors to be taken, it needs to an educated risk, and a calculated risk. Those are the two conditions for risk.
Still, risk is risk. Meaning, that when we use the word risk, we must understand that things might not go our way and accept this as fact of life.
If we are talk about this in a more spiritual manner, we might say that life has a different path prepared for us, and the current one which didn't go our way is not the one drawn to us.
The trick I guess is in the words of Kenny Rogers. We need to know when to hold them and when to fold them.
Well said, risk is risk and there are definitely types of risk. But there is the risk with anything that lives in the "unknown", doesn't mean that it is always a good risk to take. So we have to use our judgement.
Is it a good idea to stand on the ledge 30 stories up... probably not a good risk to our health.
Is it a good idea, to try a little test on our website that has an unknown outcome, to see the results from it. Yes, as that can be a good learning experience, irrespective of the outcome (positive or negative).
Thanks for sharing, and yes, knowing when to hold them and when to fold them comes with experience and a certain level of intuition that is also developed with experience.