Lots of people urge you to take risks, dream big, work for yourself… what exactly are they encouraging you to do?
Anyone can take entrepreneurial risks, in almost any situation. You don’t need to start a business, quit your job, or totally reorient your life.
When military officers advocate for change from within one of the world’s largest bureaucracies, photographers refuse to shoot a job the way that a client says they want it done, or pilots propose new operating rules that upset the establishment… we take entrepreneurial action.
How can we develop our entrepreneurial risk taking muscle while we keep our day jobs?
- Read about entrepreneurial and divergent thinkers
- Study and practice Red Team techniques (Don’t know what Red Teaming is? You should!)
- Consciously think about group decisions and consider alternative approaches
- Share new and different ideas with friends and colleagues
- Be ready to get shot down
- Start something, on the side, and see where it takes you
- Write. Publish. Repeat.
- Speak in public (Mr. Money Mustache rates this as “ridiculously difficult” and I completely agree. It’s also one of the most valuable skills you can develop.)
There are a multitude of small risks that we can take every day, without betting our jobs or our family’s security. Every time we do, our risk-taking muscles get a little stronger…
Not everyone will decide to take big risks, and that’s ok. You should find a role that’s right for you… and building your risk taking muscles can help no matter what you choose to do.
How do you approach risk? Are you exercising your risk taking muscles, or letting them atrophy?
