Risk – See Weigh Decide

What Is Your Acceptable Level Of Risk

We all have a level of risk that we are willing to take in life.  Some of us are willing to risk everything and do it regularly, others are willing to risk very little in life.  Since it is your choice how you live your life and how much risk you want to take this is not a post to tell you what level of risk is the right amount for you.  This post is for those that are unsure about what to do when they encounter risky situations or for those that are thinking about changing the amount of risk they are willing to take in life.  I am a firm believer in reevaluating the level of risk you are willing to take throughout your life. When we are younger with less responsibilities it is easy to live life a little riskier but as you get older and have responsibilities as well as people that are relying on you then it is important to readjust that level of risk to match your current circumstances.  

Define Risky Decisions In Your Life

Risk in this post is referring to anything in life that has a level of risk that could negatively impact your life.  That may be a dangerous situation or behavior, a risky financial decision or even illicit or illegal activities.  You can obviously take risk and replace it with whatever situation you are dealing with, from bungee jumping to speeding in a vehicle to investing in a potentially risky business or even dating a risky person.

It’s Important To Weigh Out Decisions Before Making A Decision

The first step is to not just rush into anything and to weigh out the pros and cons of each situation you run into.  Basically you need to know if the potential benefits of the situation outweigh the risks. If they do not, and the potential benefits are not great enough to overcome any potential risks then you pretty quickly have an answer.  Remember that everyone will have a different level of risk they are willing to put up with and the balance will be different for every individual so there is no one size fits all explanation here. Weigh it out, is it worth taking the risk to maybe get the benefit?

Don’t Let Indecisiveness Pull You Into Risky Decisions

If the amount of risk is not worth it to you then get away!  Don’t sit and ponder all day, don’t let the situation draw closer or pull you in with indecisiveness, run away from it and move on.  That’s something that I think a lot of us struggle with, we know a situation or person is not right or we are unwilling to take the risk associated yet we do not get away from the situation fast enough and it ends up dragging us into it anyways.  Once you decide, be wise and move out of the way!

Get Advice And Accept The Results Of Your Decision

If it is too close to decide, or the risk is not so great that it is clearly something you should not do then you will need to make a decision if it is something you want to undertake.  As always, asking wise people around you for good advice on the issue is always a great idea. The more feedback you get from wise people the better a decision you can make In the end, if you decide that yes, the risk is worth the potential reward then you can go ahead and do it knowing that you weighed it out and made a decision.  After that there is no one to blame but yourself if the risky aspects of the decision come to fruition, you made the decision, you took the action, you accepted the risks. Not your spouse, or parents or friends. Even if they were trying hard to talk you into it, it was still your decision and you need to own it and I think that might be the topic of my next post!