The concept of ‘taking risks’ receives far more negative publicity than it deserves. As an entrepreneur (or a poker player), taking risks plays a giant role in catching the big fish.

So, what do you do if you are an entrepreneur, but have this negative connotation of risks branded into your grey matter?

What Is Your Point Of View?

Instead of looking at risk taking as grounds to fail, simply reframe the word as an opportunity to succeed and show yourself as a leader. The word ‘can’t’ can kill your potential to take risks in one swift blow by establishing a never-ending series of justifications. Even when you’re betting on the surest thing you possibly can bet on: yourself. If you can’t be confident about your own abilities, then how can you ever move forward? Don’t get me wrong, there is a difference in being confident and just plain ego. Here’s something to consider: Taking a risk comes from confidence, and confidence is delivered from knowledge. Knowledge is what differentiates confidence from conceit.

 If You Are Wrapped In A Security Blanket, How Do You Look In The Mirror?

Taking risks is a path of learning – it brings a recognition of yourself, be it innate skill or how quickly you responded to a situation. It can quite bluntly bare the true self-image that you possess and have been subconsciously projecting to the world outside. This is an opportunity too: an opportunity to embrace internal growth. Every day, we are judged and identified by our successes and failures. So, there is always this inner voice telling us to watch out for failure. Playing it safe becomes dangerous when you let your fears of what can be govern your entire life.

 Would You Acquire The Same Opportunity If You Hadn’t Done It?

You can’t always see the way ahead, but you have to keep placing one foot in front of the other – not only because you believe in yourself and your dream ahead, but because your fears will lead you to miss the signs that would actually lead you straight to your goal. Arianna Huffington couldn’t put it better. She said her mother always taught her that ‘failure is not the opposite of success but the steppingstone to success.”

 Taking risks doesn’t just help you recognize opportunities that are waiting, it actually helps open doors to possibilities that you may have not even considered. Your potential relies on your ability to perform in an unknown situation far from the cloying embrace of your security blanket – how can you realise what you are capable of accomplishing until you actually attempt it?

 Think of it this way: we hear of heroes saving people from car accidents and dangerous animals – would they have been celebrated for their quick thinking had they been sitting at home too scared to go out?

 Are You Doing It Correctly?

There is not much to differentiate when it comes to preparing yourself for a rainy day (saving money, having a checklist etc.) and preparing yourself to take a risk. Do your homework. Understand your field and what you need to do. Follow through.

In the end, taking risks is about freeing yourself from fear and self-doubt and all those niggling negative emotions your inner saboteur is lobbing at you. Great wealth and high goals come from a high degree of risk. The high degree of risk comes from a completely surety of your own individuality.