More often than not, one of the enemies of achievement is comfort. When you become too comfortable with where you are, you will not feel any need to take risks, and without risks, success may just be a mere mirage. There is hardly anything meaningful and sustainable that a human can achieve without risks. As a matter of fact, it is the risks that you take that will make you who you are. If the Wright brothers (Orville and Wilbur) did not take the risk to put heavier-than-air metal to flight, we will not have airplanes today. So you see, the journey to success can be summed up in one word - "risk."
You cannot sit in your comfort zone and hope to have everything fall into place for you. If you must achieve anything worthwhile, then you must take actions towards it and most time, these actions will involve risks. Before humans established their presence on the moon, it was seen as a nearly impossible feat to achieve, but just to let you know, people of risk do not see impossibilities even in what may look like one. They believed it was doable and that humans can conquer space.
Even when the first team that was sent went up in flames just after launch, it did not deter the Apollo II crew, led by Neil Armstrong, to take up the risk of going to moon. Well, the risk was what became the stepping-stones for astro travels now. They landed on moon and heralded a new era in astronomy. Risks may not be convenient, of course that is why they are called "risks" but they hold the key to your breakthrough. For success to be attained, risk is inevitable. Trying to avoid taking risks may lead to another and severe form of risk. This reminds me of the words of one of my mentors:
No one make progress by sitting down but by taking steps and risks.
However, one should also know that risks are good, but they must be calculated, so that they will not end up becoming a bane to you. That is, before you take a risk, you do not just have to analyse the intended results, you should also consider the potential consequences. Risks should be taken with your eyes open so that you will not end up doing more harm to yourself. As you weigh what you stand to gain from a risk, also put into consideration the cons, in case it goes south. It is only when you can bear the potential consequences of a risk that you can go ahead and attempt the risk.
It is worthy to note that the act of taking risk is not taking blind steps, it should be research-based and calculated. There are lots of people that have encountered severe hard times by taking a single wrong step. So you see, even though life itself is a risk and you need to take risks in order to succeed, you should not take them blindly. You are not making a move because you just feel like making the move, the question that should ring in your mind is "have you calculated the move that you want to make?" This is where knowledge comes into play. Taking a step without having a knowledge of what you are doing is like walking in darkness without light.
Inasmuch as you are to take risks, you should endeavour to gather extensive knowledge of what you are doing, so as to give you mastery over it. I cited the example of the Wright brothers and the risk they took by flying their first heavier-than-air metal, but the risk was knowledge-based. The brothers were bike repairmen before they invented the flying machines. So they already have knowledge of how machines work. Imagine taking a risk into something you know nothing about; your ignorance of that particular thing may become your major undoing.
A lot of people have taken risks and succeeded at it, while some others have failed at it. Not because the former took a good risk and the latter took a bad risk, but it may just be knowledge that made the difference. This is why, whatever you do, you should keep going for knowledge. The amount of knowledge you possess is directly proportional to the amount of calculated actions you take.
Thanks for reading
