When people list characteristics that make a good entrepreneur, being risk adverse always rises to the top. You have to be willing to try new things, go after ideas that may fail, potentially fund yourself and maybe even go without pay for awhile. The message is that in light of those examples are your willing to “take the risk”? If you’re not, then you’re probably better suited for something else. While I agree that you have to take risks to be successful, I also know that risk is around us at all times.
You may think that the safe thing to do, the least risky, is to stay put at that job or continue on the same career path. However, whether you know it or not, you’re taking an even bigger risk than most entrepreneurs. That’s right, you’re risking that your job is secure, that a new skill set wont be needed, that a new technology wont make you obsolete, or that your job wont fall prey to some viscous economic cycle.
The fact is , by not taking a risk, you are betting that your job, your company, your career will be the same today as it is 10, 5, 2 years from now. It won’t be and the sooner you start to accept the risk of doing something new, learning something different the more likely you will be to succeed.
Betting on the seemingly sure thing by doing nothing is the riskiest thing you could do. That’s a chance you don’t want to take.
