If you were asked to define what was meant by taking a risk, I wonder what you’d say. Perhaps taking risks in business or gambling money, or investing in shares, undertaking an extreme physical challenge, getting married, taking on a new job ... There are so many different There’s all sorts of risks that we take and you may not even think of them as a risk, but actually they have more of an impact than you think. Risk is part of life and you can’t really avoid it. The biggest risk in life is not taking any, as it can leave you stuck, disgruntled and dissatisfied – so at times instead of running away from risk you need to conquer your fear or feelings of procrastination and embrace it. Here are some simple risks that you can take.

Ask for help

All too often people don’t want to ask for help even when they need it. There may be lots of different reasons for this – pride, belief you can do it better, stubbornness, fear of rejection, fear of appearing incompetent. If you’ve experienced any of these – put them to one side. It’s much better to ask for help when you need it rather than struggle on alone which ultimately can be very time consuming.

Ask questions

So often people don’t actually move forward in their lives or succeed because they refuse to ask questions. Many years ago I used to be a Further Education teacher. I was doing lots of part-time hours at three different colleges and worked 6 days a week teaching a mixture of English as a Second Language (ESOL) and fashion. I was quite content and then I had the opportunity to apply for a full time ESOL job. There were 2 jobs, 50 people applied and I got one of them, much to the resentment of some people who'd been wanting a full time job for years. The reason for my success? I had spent a lot of time observing more experienced teachers and asking them lots of questions. I then put that knowledge to good use when I was interviewed and even more so when I gained the post. Never hold back from asking questions. Generally it's a very small risk to take.

Say no

Refusing to say no to anything is a common mistake that many people make and yet at times it’s really important that you say no whether it be in a work context or at home to ensure that you do not take on too much and you take care of your health and well being. You might offend someone, upset them or disappoint them when you say no but that's a risk you may have to take in order to protect yourself.

Say yes

It may be fear, it may be laziness, lack of motivation or any number of things that stops you saying yes to something that feels risky. However, if you’re constantly saying no, when you should be saying yes, you’re denying yourself the opportunity for personal growth and to achieve success in different areas of your life. Remember taking risks is a natural part of life

Face your fear

Oh there are times in my life when I wish that I hadn’t been crippled with either fear or indecision and I had taken the opportunity to say yes and embrace new changes. I’ve often asked myself later what would it really have cost me to take the risk. Very little in reality and the chances are my fears would never have been realised. So my advice here is that sometimes you just need to take the risk to open up new opportunities and enjoy a wealth of experiences.

For more information of being a risk taker and taking risk visit my confidence coaching blog.