How to take risks

Entrepreneurship typically requires taking one risk after another. In fact, for most people, the entire jump to entrepreneurship is a risk in itself—you’ll be risking your money, your career, and maybe even your personal relationships in the hopes of becoming a significant success. From that initial moment of commitment, you’ll be making decisions every day that could affect your company’s fate.

Some people thrive on this risk-taking journey, making decisions without worrying, but for most of us, a bit of panic sets in when we know we’re taking a risk—even a measured risk. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a sexy industry or managing a business in a boring sector. If you find yourself in a similar situation whenever you make a risky move, try using one of these five strategies to mitigate the effects:

1. Quantify the risk. Your first job should be to realistically evaluate the degree of risk you’re actually taking, and try to use numbers. They don’t have to be precise, but try your best to adequately estimate the factors at play in any given situation. For example, if you’re worried about purchasing a new piece of equipment to develop a new product, you might sketch out a 30 percent chance the new product is a breakout success, a 20 percent chance it’s a moderate success, a 15 percent chance it’s a total failure, and a 35 percent chance it simply doesn’t turn out as well as you thought it would.

These numbers should allow you to make more calculated, intelligent decisions, but just as importantly, they’ll help quell some of your intangible anxieties. When possibilities become tangibly measurable, they’re far less intimidating.

2. Be realistic about the worst-case scenario. With most risks, panic sets in when you overthink the worst-case scenario. Let’s take a look at that expensive piece of equipment from the previous entry; if you imagine here the worst-case scenario is that the product is a massive failure, you could easily jump to thinking your brand reputation will be damaged, and from there your entire company will collapse. However, this isn’t a realistic scenario. In all likelihood, you’d have to abandon the product and move on, but you’d be able to sell the equipment at a partial loss, recovering most of your investment, and you could move on to develop other, better products with only a temporary setback.

3. Set up backup plans and failsafes. Rationalizing a risk can help you more accurately understand its potential effects, but it’s still a risk, and that means there’s a possibility for an unfavorable outcome. To ease your anxieties, try setting up a backup plan or a failsafe in preparation for the worst-case scenario, or at least some of the least pleasant effects. For example, let’s say you’ve decided to move to a bigger, more expensive location in the hopes of impressing more clients and attracting better talent. What happens if, after six months, you find that you’ve actually lost talent and your client retention numbers aren’t any better? To prepare for this, you could build in an opt-out option in your lease, or you could start lining up some co-renters to help shoulder the burden of the extra expense.

4. Practice taking smaller risks. If you’ve taken these precautions with some of your major decisions, but you still find yourself panicking when faced with a potential risk, you can start soothing your anxieties by practicing on smaller, less significant risks. For example, you could order spicier hot wings at your favorite restaurant, knowing they might be too spicy, or purchase an item on eBay from a less reputable seller for a lower price. As these smaller various risks either reward you or fail with minimal long-term damage, you’ll grow more accustomed to a risk-taking environment, and gradually, even the big risks will seem smaller. Fill your life with these small risks and eventually it will all become second nature.

5. Learn to trust your instincts. There’s no precise methodology for this strategy, but it can help you get some perspective on your position as an entrepreneur. You are the creator of your own destiny, and it’s your instincts—no one else’s—that should dictate the future of your company. If they drive your company to success, you’ll be responsible for the path that led it there. If they drive your company to failure, you’ll walk away with more experience and better instincts for the next round. If you don’t trust your instincts, either way you might walk away with regrets.

As you continue as an entrepreneur, there’s no way to avoid risks entirely. In fact, the more risks you take, the more likely you are to eventually succeed—provided those risks are adeptly calculated and hedged. Put these strategies to good use as you continue identifying and taking risks on behalf of your company.

Risk equals reward. And the bigger the risk taken, the bigger the chance for a larger payout. Steven LeVine offers 4 ways to take smarter, better risks — and succeed faster.

As entrepreneurs, we’re used to being questioned about everything we do. Perhaps it’s one reason we became entrepreneurs in the first place — to prove that we’re better off doing whatever everyone else thinks we shouldn’t. In fact, you could argue that being an entrepreneur is less about building a business and making money, and more about having the power to shape your own destiny.

Speaking from my own experience, when I left my first job to start my PR company right out of college, my friends asked me if what I was doing was right. And when I moved across the country to Los Angeles at 25, my parents asked me why I was doing it. And when I began taking flying lessons, my grandmother asked me if it was a good idea.В All of these, despite everyone else implying they were not good ideas, have become the best things I have ever done in my life.

Risk equals reward. And the bigger the risk taken, the bigger the chance for a larger payout.В When Christopher Columbus risked his life and that of many others to complete his first voyage across the sea to the unknown, his journey led to a great wealth of knowledge and commerce for Europe. When Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin traveled to outer space, he opened up a whole new age in space travel and exploration for the rest of the world. And when Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook, he launched a new era in the way we communicate with one another.

They all took enormous risks, and many questioned their decisions. But each time, the reward was huge.

Of course, risk-taking is only as good as the amount of planning and thought put into taking it. Blind risk-taking is never a good idea. Here are four ways to get over that fear, and take risks the “right” way:

1. Don’t be afraid of failure.В Failure is necessary. Society tells us to fear it, but none of us would be where we are if we hadn’t failed. We all make mistakes; we all fail at something at some point. But changing how we think of failure is key. Failure creates opportunity — the more we fail, the quicker we learn, and the more of a chance we have the next time to do something the correct way. Not to mention that without failure we wouldn’t enjoy our successes as much. Rather than fearing failure, be excited that with it, you are one step closer to achieving your goals.
2. Don’t be afraid of success.В Much of the time, it’s not just the fear of failure that scares people away from taking risks — it’s fear of success. Many of us have been indoctrinated to believe since childhood that we don’t deserve to be successful. And that if we are, what new responsibilities and obligations will that bring? Maybe we’re afraid of the attention we will receive by achieving success. For these reasons and others, many of us shy away from taking the big risks. But we all deserve to be successful. Next time you consider whether you should play it safe, remember that you deserve success just as much as anyone else.
3. Don’t allow others to inspire self-doubt. Whenever you go against the grain, there will always be people who will question your actions and lead you to doubt yourself. Sometimes it’s because of jealousy, but more often than not, it’s because of their own fears. I would encourage you to always listen to see if what they are saying is valid, and if so, to consider their points. But never allow self-doubt to creep into your mind and sabotage your opportunity. Go with your gut.
4. Calculate the risks.В Blind risks rarely, if ever, turn out well. It’s like randomly penciling in answers on a multiple-choice test that you never studied for — by probability alone, there is a fat chance you’ll achieve a high enough score to pass. But if you at least gave those questions some thought, you would have a much better shot. The same thing goes for starting a business. Launching one is always a huge risk, but you are better off doing your research first and calculating your risks than walking the high wire with no net to support you if you fall.

Taking risks doesn’t mean succeeding every time, and that’s OK! Taking risks can lead to failure which in turn can help you grow as a person.

Many of life’s greatest achievements require going outside of your comfort zone. Whether it means overcoming shyness to perform onstage, investing money to help your business grow, or putting yourself out there for the chance to find love, some of life’s most rewarding experiences come as a result of taking risks.

However, many of us have a difficult time dealing with the uncertainty that goes along with taking risks. A feeling of unease grows out of not knowing the outcome and the fear of potential failure. What if I embarrass myself in front of everyone? What if I lose all the money that I invested? What if I open my heart and get rejected? What if I’m not good enough?

Answer that with another “what if”: what if the point of taking risks isn’t the outcome, but the process in and of itself. Through taking risks, we must confront our own fears, and sometimes that leads to failure… But what if that wasn’t such a bad thing after all?

The Key to Succeed? Learn to Fail

“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” — Stephen McCranie

Many may have a negative view of failure, but actually, it can provide an essential tool for building character. Failure makes us stronger and more resilient. People who fail repeatedly develop persistence in the face of difficulties.

Look at the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who lost eight elections, failed twice in business, and suffered a nervous breakdown all before becoming one the greatest American presidents. Through failure, he developed the persistence necessary to later lead his country through one of it’s hardest periods in history. Perhaps he never could have done so without experiencing so many failures himself.

What does that tell us? Taking risks doesn’t mean succeeding every time, and that’s ok! The process of taking risks may lead to failure, but even that can make us a better person by increasing the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.

The One Thing Risk-Takers Have in Common? Overconfidence

Failure might turn us into better people, but that doesn’t make it any less difficult to take risks. It turns out that building confidence can help in overcoming the fear of risk-taking.

Entrepreneurs must go up against tremendous odds to build a successful business. That means taking big risks without knowing the outcome. What makes them do this? Confidence, and a lot of it. In a study, Ohio State University management professor Jay Barney, Ph.D., and Lowell Busenitz, Ph.D., of the University of Houston, asked 124 successful entrepreneurs and 95 top managers to answer a round of questions and rate how sure they felt about their responses. While both groups demonstrated confidence, the results proved that the entrepreneurs had an exceptionally high level of confidence.

Learn to Overcome Your Fears

Luckily, confidence is a learnable skill. Erika Casriel describes in her book, Living Fully with Shyness and Social Anxiety, “The reality is that most socially confident people deliberately learn specific skills.” That means, through practice, we can develop better confidence, equipping us with the right skills to take risks.

Even someone as seemingly outgoing as comedian Will Ferrell once considered himself painfully shy and claims he had to work very hard to overcome his lack of confidence. To do so, he would do idiotic things in public so that people would laugh at him. He told People Magazine,” In college, I would push an overhead projector across campus with my pants just low enough to show my butt. Then my friend would incite the crowd to be like, ‘Look at that idiot!’ That’s how I got over being shy.”

What does this tell us about taking risks? When we feel shy or afraid of something, we can take action to build more confidence. Instead of accepting himself as a shy person, Ferrell had the courage to overcome his fears by facing them. In doing so, he felt more confident outside of his comfort zone.

The Cycle of Success

The takeaway? Taking a risk to achieve a goal requires courage to face the fear of uncertainty. No matter the outcome, either way, we grow through the process and become more resilient and confident. Better yet, building those skills helps in taking more risks and improves the chances of achieving future goals.

Grow Your Business, Not Your Inbox

Looking 13,000 feet down out of an airplane, parachute pack secured, your heart beating in your throat, must be one of the most terrifying experiences imaginable. Though not all risks are life-threatening, all risks are frightening. As humans, we’re constantly afraid of failure, of doing something wrong and of having to deal with the consequences. Yet, at the same time, there is nothing more rewarding than reaping the benefits of a risk gone right — of landing safely ground, to build the earlier metaphor.

For entrepreneurs, risk taking is a necessity of the job. After all, we’re never quite positive that things are going to work out the way we envision. We make choices daily which affect our business, and we can never be absolutely sure that we’re making the right ones.

Knowing which risks to take, and how to take them, can be extremely helpful in stacking the odds in your favor. While risks are unavoidable, approaching them strategically can be the best way to decrease your parachute’s chances of failing, so to speak, and to produce measurable results that you would never have achieved had you avoided the risk in the first place.

In order to hone your risk-taking skills, here are some guidelines:

1. Information is your friend.

The more knowledge you have about any given topic, the less risky your endeavors will ultimately be. For example, many of the most steadily successful brokers on Wall Street are those who understand the patterns of the market better than anyone else. While there are always going to be those people who make millions off a risky uninformed bet, they are the same people who most likely will lose all their earnings on a single trade. Traders who build a sustainable career for themselves are the ones that have deep knowledge of the industry.

Similarly, you should be an expert in your field. You should know your industry well — your product or service you are providing. You should understand the buying patterns of consumers, their motivation and pain points. What drives them to buy your products? Where and when do they buy? What makes them stop buying?

As an entrepreneur — or in any profession that requires risks, really — you’ll want to have as much information as possible. The more you know, the fewer unknowns there are. The unknowns, ultimately, are what makes an action risky.

2. Assess the risk carefully.

While risk is a reality of life, there is also something to be said for strong assessment skills. Being able to look at a risky situation and decide whether or not it’s worth taking is a hallmark of a good businessperson.

Venture capital investors, for example, spend their entire careers deciding which companies are worth risking time and money on. Those who throw their money around recklessly, while admirable for their risk-taking, are not necessarily the most successful investors.

Being a good risk-taker involves using the information you have to assess a situation and decide whether or not the risk is worth it.

3. Learn from failure.

Appreciate that all risks are learning experiences. Especially those that don’t pan out.

On some accounts, failure is actually more valuable than success. While failures may not lead to an increase in your bottom line, you can use the opportunity to glean important information about what you’ve done wrong, where you misstepped and how you can move forward in the future.

The biggest mistake many people make is seeing failure as a measure of who they are, rather than a measure of where they can go. We’ve all heard that failure is feedback. Most successful entrepreneurs failed at many ventures before they created that million-dollar offering. Most overnight successes took many years to make. If you take a risk and fail, learn from it. Ask yourself what you can do differently next time, and then move on. The only failure is not learning the lesson that it provides and using it to hone your next endeavor.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

Taking risks is the only way to go from here to there. Even failed risks move you closer to your goals if you can turn that failure into valuable learning and a plan for improve your results next time.

Let’s talk about risks. Even if you’re not contemplating a risky new move, you’ve probably taken a few risks to get to where you are today, and chances are you’re not done taking them.

In a recent podcast for Harvard Business School, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey defined entrepreneurship in terms of risk-taking. “The definition of entrepreneurship is actually taking on significant risk, usually financial, in order to build something,” he says. “That means anyone can really take on an entrepreneurial attitude. An entrepreneur does not necessarily create a business. It’s just a very bold attitude of taking on risk.”

Taking on a bold attitude for a risky next step isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Here are a few ways to harness the power of positive risk-taking.

1. Fight the negativity bias.

The world is full of uncertainty. Take, for instance, the business world, which is especially prone to unforeseen disruptions. In the past 50 years alone, we’ve seen the rise and fall of Fortune 500 companies and the creation of entirely new industries. Every decision, including the decision to do nothing, carries some element of risk. “The problem is the negativity bias—we tend to exaggerate the riskiness of certain moves and underestimate the opportunities of others,” entrepreneur and productivity expert Tim Ferriss writes on his blog.

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” —Mark Zuckerberg

Risky behavior is everywhere. Instead of fixating on the consequences of a risk you’ve never attempted, try to evaluate the entire scenario, including any potential hazards of maintaining the status quo. “Risk is an unavoidable constant of life, so your focus should be on taking the right kinds of risks that offer the right kinds of opportunity,” Ferriss says. Some questions to ask yourself: Which risk is worth taking? Which risk would impart more meaning or happiness to my life? Which risk would pay off more in the long run?

As Facebook co-founder and Harvard dropout Mark Zuckerberg famously stated, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

2. Build self-efficacy.

As the popular Ralph Waldo Emerson quote goes, “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” Researchers have found that Emerson was onto something. In their 1994 study on risk and decision-making, entrepreneur researcher Norris Krueger Jr. and strategic marketing professor Peter Dickson discovered that small, measured risk-taking behaviors can increase confidence and self-efficacy, the “I think I can” positive psychology that enhances goal achievement.

So the more experiments you make, the better you get at making them. And the more risks you take, the more positive your risk experiences become. If the idea of risk-taking still makes your palms sweat, try to increase your comfort level by taking a small risk before embarking on a bigger one.

3. Be intelligent with your risks.

It’s important to add that building confidence in risk-taking doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll take smart risks. It might be helpful to build in parameters or conditions for each risky decision. When Todd Goldberg, co-founder of digital event organization platform Eventjoy, left his job in August 2013 to pursue his startup, he gave himself one year to generate significant revenue or funding.

It turns out that Goldberg was uncannily perfect in his one-year limit. In September 2014, little more than a year later, Ticketmaster purchased Eventjoy for an undisclosed amount. “We had more lows than I can count—getting no’s from dozens of investors and the product breaking at critical moments, just to name a couple,” Goldberg says. “Despite all that, we’ve had an amazing year that included being accepted into Y Combinator’s winter batch, raising funding, making great progress on the product, and most important, growing at a good rate.”

As a football player for the Philadelphia Eagles, Emmanuel Acho fully understands the varied risks that come with his job. “The dilemma many athletes face: Is it worth maximizing capital now, maximizing my talent now with the small window of time I’m in the NFL, or should I try to focus on opening doors for the future?”

Building confidence in risk-taking doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll take smart risks. It might be helpful to build in parameters or conditions for each risky decision.

Acho currently focuses entirely on football, but during the off-season, he invests his time in earning a master’s degree and running an online community startup, Be Neighborly. “Startups are hard,” Acho says. “They are miserably hard, yet it’s in our blood to just be challenged and pursue something risky. In the off-season, people were traveling and having fun, and I was just studying and working. Hopefully that pays dividends in the long run.”

4. It’s OK to “fail.”

While the “Fail fast!” mentality of startups might sound strange, expecting failure could actually be seen as a method for success. New York University conducted a gambling experiment in which some participants were told that losses were completely inevitable and acceptable, while others weren’t given the same pep talk. At the end of the study, participants who expected losses didn’t become dejected when losses occurred, and they were able to outperform their peers by taking more intelligent risks.

Know that failure is an option and come up with a plan on how to handle loss. Being mentally prepared enables you to make positive risk-taking decisions without fear of the unexpected, which can be the most crippling component of taking a risk.

5. Just do it.

After you’ve analyzed a risky opportunity to death, sometimes it’s best to listen to your gut and just do it. “Now that I’m on the other side and have started Eventjoy, I’ve learned that creating, and even joining, a startup is not as risky as it seems,” Goldberg says.

“You’ll learn more in two years than you would have in five years of a ‘normal’ job. You’re forced to be resourceful, which can be a powerful thing when it comes to creativity and execution. You often have a large role in something that will hopefully impact millions of people. Plus, if it all falls apart, you can always go get another job.”

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2015 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Women are not exactly known for taking risks. Especially in the wake of the economic recession, women’s supposed restraint has even been lauded as studies ask whether or not the financial crisis would have occurred had more women been in positions of power in the financial world.

But the idea that women are biologically risk-averse is a myth. In fact, women’s tendency to take fewer risks than men is much less rooted in nature than it is in the way we’re nurtured. But no matter why women avoid taking risks, doing so may be hurting us in the long run. And many wildly successful women have spoken out about why women need to face their fears and take more chances.

Here are seven reasons why risk-taking is essential to women’s success, according to the very women who have benefited from putting it all on the line.

1. Great, otherwise unforeseen opportunities often come from risk-taking.

We tend to view risk-taking negatively, often regarding it as dangerous and even unwise. But while some risks certainly don’t pay off, it’s important to remember that some do. Reframing risk as an opportunity to succeed rather than a path to failure is something Sandra Peterson, CEO of the $10 billion business Bayer CropScience, knows well. She told Forbes in 2011:

Most women I know who have been successful in business, it’s because they’ve been willing to take on the risky challenge that other people would say, “Oh, I’m not sure I want to do that.” If you look at my career, I’ve taken on a lot of risky roles. They were risky to some people but to me it was, “Wow, this is this great opportunity and it’s allowing me to learn new things and take on a bigger role and a bigger organization.” But some people would view that as, “Are you crazy? What do you know about diabetes, or what do you know about washing machines or the food industry or automobiles or the agricultural industry?”

2. Taking risks shows confidence and helps you stand out.

Taking a risk is also a great opportunity to stand out and to present yourself as a leader, not a follower satisfied with the status quo. Tamara Abdel-Jaber, who is the CEO of the tech company Palma and was named one of the 100 Most Powerful Arab Women in Arabian Business Magazine in 2011, told Women 2.0:

The way I see it, many people in . [the Middle East] don’t have many resources and knowledge. In order to stand out, expend a little extra effort . I am passionate about knowledge and pursued that from an early age by working hard in school and have continued to do so throughout my life. My knowledge helps me to be confident, and I like taking risks.

3. We learn from risks — and those lessons may lead us on an important, new path.

But beyond the external opportunities and recognition risk-taking can bring, it also provides an opportunity for internal growth. Heather Rabbatts, the first female non-executive director of The Football Association, told the BBC in an interview for the Woman’s Hour Power List:

I think I’ve always felt that there was something quite exciting about taking risks. And there’s a great saying, actually, that you only learn when you are at risk and I’m fascinated by both risk and learning, so that has led me to take jobs that people would think “you can’t do that, that’s just impossible.” No it won’t be.

4. Success won’t fall in your lap — you have to pursue it.

But beyond being personally or professionally beneficial, taking risks may be a necessary step in actively pursuing success. When asked how she became the first female CEO of a television network in a Huffington Post interview, Kay Koplovitz responded:

You really have to put one foot in front of the other and start on your journey. You have to be comfortable that you don’t know exactly how you are going to get to the results that you want to see. There is going to be experimentation along the way. And you have to be comfortable that you can think your way through and actually execute your way through to the desired outcome. I expected to be successful. I wanted to be successful.

5. You don’t achieve your dreams by playing it safe.

Risk-taking won’t only potentially benefit the career-path you’re already on — it may actually open you up to a world of possibilities you have yet to consider. President and CEO of EngenderHealth Pamela Barnes urged female professionals to leave their comfort zone in order to achieve their potential in an interview with The Grindstone:

For all professionals, and especially young women, the world outside our comfort zone can be huge and scary. Until we are willing to put ourselves out there and take a risk, we will never be able to achieve professional success and realize our potential. It’s time to leave our comfort zone; time to go after what we’re passionate about; and time to achieve our dreams.

6. Embracing risk-taking helps you overcome a fear of failure.

Arianna Huffington has long identified the fear of failure as a major roadblock to success. She told Business Insider last year:

We women are a little more risk-averse because whenever you launch something there’s a big chance it’s not going to work. And we have a bigger problem with failure . [Women deal with] what I call the obnoxious roommate living in our head that constantly puts us down, doesn’t want us to fail because we become identified with our successes and failures.

But failure, Huffington insists, isn’t the end of one’s journey to success, but usually the beginning. She told The Guardian earlier this month that her mother always taught her that, “Failure is not the opposite of success but a stepping stone to success. “

7. Taking a risk doesn’t mean doing so haphazardly.

While risk taking can clearly be personally and professionally beneficial, it doesn’t occur in a vacuum, either. People don’t benefit from risks without preparing to take them and educating themselves on the possible fall-out. JetStream Federal Credit Union CEO Jeanne Kucey is well-aware of this fact.

“While I’m definitely a risk taker, at the same time, I do my homework and understand the importance of implementation and follow through,” she told the Credit Union Times in 2012. “You can’t just throw a bunch of ideas without seeing the whole process of a project and what the end should be or look like.”

PASSENGERS

Read Under Pressure #7 first! —No, Jim did not kill everyone. That part was a joke for those who’ve actually seen the movie.

THE INFLUENCE

Can you imagine though… being a passenger on a Starship spacecraft at the age of _whatever_, woken up by providence, to live the remainder of your days alone because everyone else is in suspended animation sleep until you’re dead? Well, sort of… I mean it’s not like they’re waiting or even wanting for you to be dead.

But what if you realized you didn’t have to be alone and found a way to give your life meaning by taking the meaning out of someone else’s life? “Say you’re stranded on a desert island with an ability to whisk someone there with you, would you?” (paraphrased from the movie).

That’s definitely not an emotional artificial intelligent robot type question, because robots don’t have a conscience bearing them responsible for an incalculable decision. So how does a person cope with that type of decision, once made?

THEY LIE

That’s right. They lie! But why? …pause…

You have to really think about that question for yourself. I’m bias to the belief that everyone assumes they know their reasons justified until the hypothetical becomes a reality for them personally, it’s only then, that anyone could truly understand the decision of another in this scenario.

And so if you were asking me that question. My reasons would be because of the ingrained nature to experience life to the fullest of its limited capacity. We are wired to live with each other, not separate. Therefore, it’s only natural that the inevitable will happen.

But the ability to cope, comes by way of motive. The chemical reaction of love, an impulse so powerful that the lie seems worth it all. Motive is what gives love meaning; which cultivates in a person’s character the ability to cope with difficult decisions, acquiring necessary mechanism to accept the consequence of their fate.

CHARACTER

I’m curious as to how these words typed affect you, reader. It’s therapeutic for me, quite literally affecting myself. Is that weird? I think, “yah”, that’s weird. Anyway, back to impacting our character.

Once the motive is established, the character falls in line and conforms into the ‘how to’ cope with the aforethought decision of whisking someone stranded on a desert island with you. And therefore we have, Jim. Our subject matter. Because in the movie you’ll find these mysterious qualities about the character of Jim as you watch to observe his personality.

So many questions come to mind through the progression of time Jim is alone on the ship until finally waking up the love of his life, Aurora. The hardest decision for him or, I think… anyone really …to make. And he copes with it by collusion with his bartender robot, Arthur. Yah, I know. And for awhile, I might add…(why is that even said “I might add” it’s an oxymoron).

Anyway, it’s the secret made with his emotional A.I. robot bartender that leaves the viewer and, well, now us, suspended with anticipation because of such an event. What do we make of this? It’s at this point in our story two motives emerge. Which, one: being that of inevitable love, and two: collusion for the inevitable love to happen. “So what do we make of this?” Do tell….

Stay tuned for Under Pressure #9 to continue in our journey with the passengers, consider following our blog and smashing that like button!

Passengers

Under Pressure | #7

In the movie “Passengers” a mechanic (Chris Pratt) and journalist (Jennifer Lawrence) are aboard a starship (and one of the best animated in my opinion) set out on routine course through space at 50% lightspeed to another planet-like Earth called Homestead II. While in transit the starships’ shield takes on some serious pressure upon encountering … Continue reading Under Pressure | #7 →

When you were young, you didn’t even understand the notion of risk. You just did. You ate paint chips off the wall, you tasted the handful of dirt you scooped up in your garden, you stuck your fingers wherever you wanted to, but as time passed and you grew older, you were slowly introduced and taught the notion of risk by others around you and it was as if a square marking your boundaries was slowly painted around you. Soon enough, you stopped risking. You stayed confined within the box that was drawn around you by others and you accepted it.

This is where I’m comfortable.
This box determines my capabilities.
I can’t and I won’t step out of this box.

What happened? On the one hand, when you were young, you just did without thinking of the consequences. On the other hand, when you got older, you stopped doing because you started thinking of the consequences. Neither end of the spectrum is good so how can we reconcile? How can we get the best of both worlds?

First off, let’s tackle the part of “not doing”. Why do we hesitate to take risks? How can we get back that trait of boldness we had as a child?

It’s actually very simple. It just involves changing what we label risk as.

You’ve got to understand that risk is nothing but a label and the reason why risk yields so much power over us is precisely because of that. Labels are extremely powerful because we tend to pass judgment solely based on that. When something is labeled, we equate some sort of image to it. Armani – fancy suit. Ferrari – fast car. Nike – running shoes. In this case, what image does the label of risk conjure up? Imminent danger. We judge risk as imminent danger.

We need to change the label. Stop thinking of risk as just a one shot do or die situation. Instead, start thinking of risk as a journey of exploration. It’s not just about one shot. It’s about a journey, a journey you choose to embark on for the purpose of exploring a different path.

Columbus did not take a risk. He chose to go on a journey to explore the new world. Entrepreneurs don’t take risks. They choose to go on a journey to explore other means of making a living. Companies don’t take risks. They choose to explore doing things differently than the norm.

People mistakenly think that if they take a risk and it doesn’t turn out the way they expect it to, that it’s all over. The sky will fall, their world will come crashing down, and that they’ll never bounce back from it. It’s precisely because of that one shot do or die mentality that prevents people from taking risks. Step back and look at the forest. Don’t look at the trees. Risk is not just about looking at one tree. It’s about exploring an entire forest.

If you start labeling risk as a journey of exploration and discovery, it takes the weight off your shoulders and you become more inclined to take action.

Before, you had no label for risk as a child. Now you do and it’s stopping you from taking them. Change the label and start exploring.

Now that you’re older, you have the ability of thinking of the consequences of your actions. It’s a good thing because if you didn’t and you started thinking of risks as exploration and decided to jump off a plane with no parachute, you’d be in for one big surprise.

Again we run into the issue of labels. Consequences usually have a negative label associated with them. You will suffer the consequences of your actions. Do you know what the consequences of that will be? You’ve got to face the consequences of your actions. Such a heavy label isn’t it? Instead of consequences, think outcomes.

Go on a journey of exploration and focus on your desired outcome. Don’t focus on consequences.

Also, understand that each time you take a risk by thinking of it as a journey to explore, the box around you gets larger and this increase in latitude of exploration spills over to other areas of your life. If you find yourself exploring in work, you’ll find yourself exploring in your social life, your personal life, etc. As you keep on doing this, you realize the fact that there is no, or ever was, a box drawn around you and that it was all in your head the entire time.

What about those times when you risk it and it is just about ONE shot; like when you go for it on 4th down during the national championship game? Isn’t that a big risk? How can that be exploration you say?

When it comes down to those times, those aren’t really risks from the coach’s point of view. What the audience doesn’t see are all the times that the coaches ran risks during the pre season, going for it on 4th down in the middle of other games, the hundreds of times they went through this exact same scenario in practice, etc.

You see, the coaches took many risks BEFORE this moment to explore how to handle this type of situation if it were to ever come up in the future. Meanwhile, everyone at home is thinking this is a HUGE risk, a big gamble to go for it on fourth down, but the players and the coach know otherwise. It’s not a risk because they’ve explored this scenario many times before so they know what to do and how to deal with it when the situation actually came.

So must it be with you. When you begin to take little risks of exploration, you make yourself bold enough to take those big risks that appear to be like do or die situations from the outside, but you will smile on the inside because you know otherwise.

Change the labels. Go on a journey of exploration and focus on the desired outcome and the word risk will have power over you no more. When you do this on a consistent basis, you’ll find that a new label for risk emerges.

As you look back on your career and life to date, where do you wished you’d been a little braver, trusted in yourself more, and been less cautious in the chances you took?

Anything come to mind? When speaking to people in their forties and beyond, many tell me that if they could do their career over again, they’d have taken more risks, settled less and spoken up more often. In short, they wished they’d been more courageous in the risks they’d taken. Perhaps you relate.

Often we know what it is we want to do, but we still don’t do it. Why? Because, as I wrote in my latest book Brave, we are innately risk averse and afraid of putting our vulnerability on the line. The status quo, while not particularly fulfilling, can seem like an easier, softer, less scary, option. Indeed, advances in brain imaging technology can now verify that we human beings are wired to be risk averse. In other words, we find it much easier to settle with the status quo, keep our mouths closed and our heads down rather than make a change, take a chance, or speak up and engage in what I call a “courageous conversation.”

‘Fortes fortuna adiuvat’

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When weighing up whether to take an action that could leave us vulnerable to failing or some other form or loss (of reputation, money, social standing, pride etc), we have an innate tendency to misjudge four core elements in assessing risk.

1. We over-estimate the probability of something going wrong. As Daniel Kahneman wrote inThinking, Fast and Slow, when assessing risk, potential losses tend to loom larger than potential gains. That is, we tend to focus more on what might go wrong – what we might lose or sacrifice – than what might go right. Because what we focus on tends to magnify in our imaginations, it causes us to misjudge (and over-estimate) the likelihood of it occurring. Yet the reality is that the risk of something not working out is often not near as high as we estimate and the odds of it working out well, are often far better.

2. We exaggerate the consequences of what might happen if it does go wrong. This is what I refer to as ‘catastrophizing.’ We come up with dire and dramatic worst-case scenario images in our minds-eye. Rather than assume that we would act quickly to head off or mitigate a situation if things started going off track, we imagine everything spiralling shockingly out of control while we passively stand by, conjuring up images of ourselves destitute, shunned by our family, ostracized by our peers and forever shamed by our failure. Okay, maybe I go too far. Maybe you don’t catastrophize quite so dramatically. But the point is, we are neurologically wired to exaggerate how bad things could be if our plans didn’t work out, and we fail to appreciate our ability to intervene to ward off further impact.

3. We under estimate our ability to handle the consequences of risk. This goes hand in hand with the above, but is more focused on our capability over all. And while I hate to say it, women are the biggest culprits when it comes to underestimating their abilities and buying into self-doubt. Too often we let our misgivings about whether we have what it takes to succeed get the better of us. The result is that we often avoid taking on new challenges (or proactively pursuing new opportunities) because we don’t trust sufficiently in our ability to rise to the challenges they involve.

While speaking at a women’s leadership event at Ernst & Young , managing partner, Lynn Kraus shared with me how she had declined an offer to take on the senior leadership role several times before finally accepting. Each time she had turned it down, it was because she didn’t think she had the ability to succeed in the position. Looking back now, with the benefit of having been in the role for several years, Lynn realized that she’d been gravely underestimating herself. Fortunately for her, those who saw her potential didn’t give up on her easily. Still, how often do we fail to judge our own capacity for risks – like taking on a bigger role or pursuing a lofty goal – accurately? In my experience, it’s far too often.

4. We discount or deny the cost of inaction, and sticking with the status quo. I wrote about this in a previous column titled The Parmenides Fallacy: Are You Ignoring the Cost of Inaction? We tell ourselves “It’s not so bad” and delude ourselves with the hope that our circumstances will somehow just get better over time and things will just ‘sort themselves out.’ We come up with excuses for why sticking with the status quo is a feasible option; why playing safe and not putting ourselves at risk of failing or looking foolish is ‘sensible.” In reality, things that aren’t working out well for us now only tend to get worse over time, not better, and issues remain unaddressed in our relationships and lives tend to grow larger, not smaller.

These four different human tendencies working together help to explain why so many supposedly smart people find themselves living in such a restricted circle of their potential, feeling dissatisfied in their careers, stuck in their relationships, and living lives they would never have chosen, much less have aspired to.

So how do we overcome our tendency to play safe and identify which risks are worth taking? Start by asking yourself these three questions:

1. What would I do if I were being more courageous?
2. How will inaction cost me one year from now if I do nothing?
3. Where is my fear of failure causing me to over-estimate the size of risk, under-estimate myself and holding me back from taking risks that would serve me (my business etc)?

Whatever answers come into your mind, take notice! They are pointing you to a brighter future that you can only create when you commit to taking bolder, more decisive and courageous actions. Will there be risks involved? Of course! But remember that you are wired to both overestimate the size of them and to underestimate your ability to handle them. The truth is, as Lao Tsu wrote two thousand years ago, “You are capable of more than you think.”

Fear regret more than failure – history has shown that we fail far more from timidity than we do from over daring. Or to quote a little Latin: Fortes fortuna adiuvat.

“Fortune favors the bold.”

Margie Warrell is a keynote speaker and bestselling author of three books – Stop Playing Safe (Wiley 2013), Find Your Courage and Brave. Watch her talk about how to embrace a “Courage Mindset” here.

There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of articles that have been written about how making mistakes and learning from them, is one of the major keys to success.

As leaders, we’re often asked to be tolerant of mistakes so that we create a learning organization, rather than one that has a fear of which can then paralyzes growth.

But this is the wrong emphasis! Here we’re focusing on the outcome rather than the type culture we would like to create.

It’s not mistakes that lead us to success, it’s risk-taking, and as leaders, we need to be cultivating a culture of smart risk-taking. A culture where people understand what risk taking is, what’s is a smart risk and then feel comfortable in proposing or even taking risks.

When we can build this kind of culture, we will have an innovative organization which will push the limits of possibility.

Here are five ways to encourage risk taking.

Model Risk-taking Behavior

I worked for a boss who talked about risk taking all the time, and while it was true that he was tolerant and supportive in times of failure, he wasn’t much of a risk taker himself and consequently the organization took very few risks, even though he actively promoted it.

Leadership defines culture, and if we want to create a culture of acceptable risk taking, then we need to display that kind of behavior. We also need to be transparent about the risks we are taking, explain why we are taking that and any mitigation we may have in case it fails.

People learn from watching and if they can understand our smart risk-taking approach it can help them develop better theirs.

Define Smart Risks and Set Limits

We need to define what we mean by smart risk. The last thing we need is for the entire department to be taking big risks that jeopardize the business. We need to clearly communicate limits to risk taking and have procedures in place for review of any proposed risk that would breach these limits, a kind of risk review board.

Identify Your Best Risk-takers And Unleash Them

Risk taking is a behavior, not a process, so identify who your best-existing risk takers are and encourage them to take smart risks. The more people modeling smart risk-taking behavior, the quicker and easier it will be to create that culture. It’s also good to have them acting as mentors to other members of your team, helping to teach people how to take smart risks.

Create A Safe Environment For Risk Taking

We need to create a safe environment for risk-taking; this means not punishing people who take smart acceptable risks and fail but supporting them, helping them learn from their mistakes and then encouraging them to try again. These are the kinds of mistake we should tolerate, the ones that look to move us forward.

Reward Smart Failures

Set up a structure that reviews failures and rewards the best attempts, as this will show that the organization is serious about risk-taking.

What gets rewarded gets repeated, so we need to reward the best failures as well as success as this will send a strong message to the organization. Something like a Who Dares Wins Award, showing that it’s about the smart risk taking not just about the success.

We need to bear in mind that risk-taking is a behavior and although it can be learned, there will be some that won’t want to take risks, and we shouldn’t look to force them.

Risk taking needs to be encouraged, it needs to be nurtured, and if you follow the five steps outlined above it will help create a safe environment for smart risk-taking to occur.

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Every once in a while in one’s life come challenges. These challenges can be so daunting and demanding that it places the person in not just a weird external state but also a peculiar state of mind. There are hardly any people in the world who make it a point in their life to take steps that are too farfetched or have stakes that are too high. Almost every individual finds it easier and more convenient to take steps that are safe and secure them for the present and for the future.

Anyone who has spent even a year in the practical world would agree that this is not how life can be lived. The entire essence of life demands people to challenge themselves and push themselves off the edge just to see if they can fly – that is the true meaning of life. When one dives into a situation where the end point or the result is unknown and cannot even be anticipated based on the current circumstances, it means they are taking a risk. These are not hard core decisions but mere choices that individuals have to take because they pose a better likelihood in the future. It cannot be claimed that if one has a safe job, they will always remain employed and have complete job security. An unstable and an unconventional job might become a constant source of income for several people. The entire questions falls on one question; “Are you willing to take the risk?”

Some people might also claim that taking a risk and having it result in a positive outcome has a lot to do with fate and luck. Though this might be true for various people, but in some cases, where the decision lies in another human and not on fate, taking a bold risk exemplifies your confidence in yourself and that is a valuable but rare quality in humans.

Hence, if you have a risk to take and are torn between a safe and a risky option, tell yourself this:

1. The risk you are willing to take might give you a once in a lifetime chance to explore not just your abilities and potentials but also to live your dream.
2. Taking a risk and actually have it work out for you might make you feel more confident about your own abilities and make you feel good about the things you can achieve in life.
3. Taking a risk makes it easier for you to come up with ideas and innovations that you were too scared to try and test before.
4. Taking a risk opens up an entire new world of possibilities for you. It makes you feel like there is no end to your passion.
5. Above all, taking a risk is the best way to overcome your own weaknesses and confusions.

Hence, risk taking is a core element of human life and human existence.

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How one woman learned the benefits of risk taking

There I was, our plane steady at 14,000 feet over the bright green soybean fields of rural North Carolina. My skydiving instructor, Jean Paul — French, bald, abundantly pierced, and painfully sexy — clipped his harness to mine and secured himself so tightly against my body that you couldn’t have slipped a piece of paper between us. Good thing, since his body was attached to our parachute. I had trained all morning — albeit on solid ground — and now I was on the verge of taking my first tandem skydive.

It was 45 degrees inside the plane, but I was drenched in sweat. No matter how many times I told myself that this man and a few yards of nylon would land me safely back on terra firma, I was still too afraid to blink. “Are you ready?” Jean Paul yelled. I couldn’t speak but nodded, bent my trembling knees, and we plunged into nothing but blue sky.

The Risk Not Taken

Three years earlier, I wouldn’t have jumped out of a four-poster bed, let alone a rickety-looking turboprop. While I had a busy life with a son and husband I loved and work I enjoyed, I felt unsatisfied. The routine of it all was getting to me, plus I longingly remembered all the spontaneous stuff I did as a kid — like not hesitating to jump off a 12-foot shed roof or pop a wheelie on a dirt bike. Now I found myself admonishing my own 5-year-old son to be careful about nearly everything, from bumblebees that got within a 50-foot radius of him to potentially crippling doorjambs. My guardedness about the world verged on becoming a pervasive fear. I had days when my biggest personal risk was admitting I bought a nonorganic vegetable.

As unsettling as my grandmotherly tendencies were, such feelings are actually natural. After all, I was on the downside of my 30s, a time when experts say most people become more cautious — whether it’s about changing careers or just trying a new hobby. “There are biological reasons our risk-taking behavior may decrease” as we age, says Keith Johnsgard, Ph.D., author of Conquering Depression and Anxiety Through Exercise. In evolutionary terms, young people take more risks to show they will be strong, healthy mates, while older people have secured a mate and thus have a stronger self-preservation instinct.

But a supremely safe life is not necessarily a healthy one. People who chronically avoid risk — neophobes — may be more prone to an early death than those who embrace change. Research on rats from the National Academy of Sciences found that being fearful increases the release of flight-or-fight hormones. That’s a good thing in the short term; but a constant state of caution puts a long-term strain on your body, which may result in hardened arteries, a weakened immune system, and accelerated aging.

Meanwhile, there are serious scientific benefits to trying new things. “When you’re in a rut, you’re literally engaging in a mind-numbing activity,” says Lawrence Katz, Ph.D., coauthor of Keep Your Brain Alive and professor of neurobiology at Duke University. “Taking risks, big or small, wakes up your brain by forcing you to pay attention.” Dr. Katz’s research shows that new experiences not only maintain your brain but actually build dendrites (the extensions that keep your nerve cells communicating effectively). Translation: Risk-taking makes you smarter.

Even so, I wasn’t ready to take my life from zero to Lara Croft: Tomb Raider overnight. So I started out small and tangible. As a work-from-home mom, I missed daily contact with other people — no offense to my son and SpongeBob. I decided to make myself more outgoing whenever possible. Now maybe this doesn’t sound all that risky, but seeing as I’d leave the library without the book I wanted rather than ask for help finding it, this challenge was more than adequate. I promised myself I would say hello to the first stranger I saw and that I would not break out into a full-body rash while doing it.

Okay, the first few times I merely mouthed the H word. But with practice, I actually began to articulate complete phrases. Initially it was a simple comment on the weather to someone ahead of me in the grocery store line; then a compliment to a woman wearing a pair of shoes I loved; then a conversation with a neighbor with a gorgeous garden. Yes, I felt awkward: Am I saying something stupid? Is there baby food in my hair? But in a few weeks, I wasn’t just striking up random conversations; some of those same “strangers” were now becoming friends.

Full disclosure: Some of my attempts bombed — big time. I still turn beet red when I remember working up the nerve to speak to an author I admired at a friend’s party. When I finally steamrolled over to his side and expressed my admiration for his work, I wasn’t prepared for his withering reply: “How should I know you?” Never have I so wanted to morph into the buffet table. Then there was the time I decided to replicate the squid-ink pasta my husband and I had dined on in Italy — for a houseful of guests. Let’s just say Nigella Lawson would not have been impressed by my black-stained fingertips or the oily congealed mass of cappellini.

That moment of failure, watching dinner guests politely push rubbery pasta around their plates while filling up on salad and bread, sure wasn’t an ego trip. But I’ve come to see that embarrassment is only temporary and the rewards of riskiness are permanent. “So what if you take a chance and fail to get whatever you were going after?” says Cheryl Richardson, author of The Unmistakable Touch of Grace. “By taking the risk at all, you became more courageous and learned what did or didn’t work.” Plus, think of how much more exciting your life is because you try new things. Sure, you could remain in a sheltered existence where you do everything right . and wind up going out of your freaking mind.

These days I’m eager to try new things — and when I wind up on my ass, it’s no big deal. And I’ve made serious progress from small talk in Costco. I shed my coordination-challenged image by learning to kayak and taking ballroom dancing lessons. Then I came to terms with my mother’s schizophrenia, which had made me ashamed while growing up, by writing a book about the experience. Finally came skydiving, something I’d always wanted to try, but had never felt emotionally ready for — until now. Sure, I was still scared, but I went ahead and booked an appointment. Like most risks, the worst part was the anticipation. Okay, I was scared stupid. When I leapt out of the hatch, I started screaming. At first it was from terror, but then it was just from the exhilaration of the fall — a fall that was 2.5 miles down.

Now when I’m nervous about a situation, whether it’s a cocktail party or a salary negotiation, I remember that jump. Yeah, it was pretty damn scary. But fear doesn’t stand a chance if you just keep moving forward.

Public transit systems around the world have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Some, like the New York City subway system, have changed their hours of operation to allow for extra sanitization, other systems have reduced the number of passengers allowed in cars — and many have required masks be worn.

Car services like taxi cabs, Ubers and Lyfts have also changed, requiring riders and drivers both to wear masks and distance from each other as best as possible.

How will mass transit change in the age of coronavirus?

However, as the country begins to reopen and people begin to return to offices and other workplaces, more people are using public transit than they have in previous months. Is it safe to ride public transit during the pandemic? TODAY spoke with two health experts about just how you can use the transportation systems while still keeping yourself and your loved ones safe and healthy.

What should you bring?

A mask is a the most important thing to take on the trip. Wearing masks is as critical on public transportation as it is in other public spaces.

“You have to wear a mask,” said Shan Soe-Lin, Ph.D., a lecturer in global affairs at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and a trained immunologist. “It’s the best thing you can do.”

“The number one, two and three most important things are to wear a mask, to wear a mask and to wear a mask,” Dr. Anne Liu, an infectious disease physician at Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, California, told TODAY. “Of the things that we recommend — social distancing, hand washing (and) mask wearing — in a public transportation setting, the most important thing is mask wearing.”

Riders should also bring supplies like hand sanitizer to clean their hands after using a ticket machine or touching parts of the vehicle. It can also help to bring sanitizing wipes so you can wipe down any high-touch surfaces before using them.

In some cases, disposable gloves can also be helpful, but Soe-Lin cautioned that they should only be worn in extreme circumstances.

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“Touching your face with a dirty gloved hand and touching your face with a dirty ungloved hand is the same,” she said. “You can wear gloves, take them off if you need to and then put them back on, but that’s pretty extreme.”

How can you best analyze the COVID-19 risks?

While there haven’t been any major outbreaks tied to mass transit systems, which Liu suggests is the result of effective masking, it’s still important to know your risk factors and understand what chances you may have to take before getting on the bus, train or subway.

“We’re moving to a new phase where we have to manage risk as best as we can,” said Soe-Lin. “If you have to go to work and you have to take the subway, you have to do what you have to do and do it as safely as you can, but people should be minimizing trips and exposures as much as possible as well.”

First, make sure that the trip you’re making is truly essential — and make sure that you’re getting there in the safest way possible. If it’s feasible to walk or ride a bike, that may be safer than using public transit. If you do have to take a vehicle, hailing a taxi is likely safer than getting on the subway.

Once you’ve determined where you’re going and how you’ll get there, make sure that you’re going at an off-peak time if possible. Try to avoid busy cars and stations. Make sure that you’re also following the best precautions possible depending on what type of transportation you’re using.

Trains and buses

Trains and public buses may not have windows that can be opened, but if they do, it’s a good idea to open them, since the increased ventilation can help lower the risk of transmission.

“Opening windows helps with getting good circulation, which will probably reduce the risk of the number of events of transmission,” Liu said. “It may not necessarily reduce the risk of transmission if somebody (with coronavirus) is sitting right next to you, but it may reduce the risk for everybody else.”

Do your best to avoid sitting next to other riders, especially if they aren’t wearing masks.

“If you are sitting near somebody on a train who is infected and not wearing a mask, it’s not a huge risk, but it’s a pretty significant risk,” Liu said. “That can put you in the 3 to 5% range of being infected, which is pretty significant, especially if you’re near enough to people and you do it enough times over the course of a workweek.”

If you’re in the station, try avoiding high-touch surfaces like doorknobs and ticket machines. Use a contactless option wherever possible — and always make sure that you’re wearing a mask or other face covering.

“All of these measures to reduce contact and to go contactless will incrementally help. I don’t think any one of them will win the battle, but they will all incrementally help,” Liu said.

Subways

Much like with buses and trains, do what you can to increase the airflow. Soe-Lin said that there isn’t much data on whether opening windows on an underground subway versus on an aboveground bus or train changes the risk at all, but any airflow can help reduce the transmission of the virus.

Again, continue to do your best to avoid people who aren’t wearing masks. Be sure to wear your own mask properly for the entire journey. Try to avoid crowded cars, and if you can, build some extra time into your commute.

“Try waiting for the next train,” Soe-Lin said. “More people are heading back to work, and while I don’t think (transit use) is going to reach the levels that it was when everything was normal, your car won’t be just 10% full anymore either.”

You can also try moving between cars, if possible, but be sure to do that safely — never pass between cars while a subway is in motion.

Hired cars

Hired cars like taxis, Lyfts and Ubers may be safer than buses or subways, because fewer people are in the vehicle, but the same precautions should be taken. Roll down the windows if you safely can, be sure to wear a mask and sit as far from the driver as possible — consider sitting in the back seat instead of in the front and limit the number of people in the car.

Drivers should consider using dividers or plastic shields to separate the front and back seats of the car, which can help protect them from prolonged contact with unknown riders.

If you are a passenger in a car with that arrangement, roll down the windows in the backseat.

“I would still roll things down in the back because someone was still sitting there,” Soe-Lin said, pointing out that the virus can be airborne and aerosolized particles can linger for several hours.

Published: Oct 14, 2018 By Arden Davidson

You just read an article about forward-thinking companies who are doing away with cubicles and fostering an open environment conducive to creativity. But when you went to your boss, suggesting the idea (or some other innovative organizational solution), he pretty much laughed you out of his office. Why? Because he, and others in management at your office share a similar mentality—if something’s worked in the past, it will work in the future.

These kinds of leaders are not eager to invest time in experimental ideas or risky ventures; they’re interested in staying the course, and sticking to a safe, well-traveled route. So how do you break through these barriers, infuse your organization with fresh life and energy, and get your company out of its comfort zone and onto the fast track to modernization?

1. Start With Baby Steps

People who don’t like to take risks definitely don’t favor huge, sudden adjustments to routine. Easing into change is an opportunity to show your bosses that even small risks can pay off —and can open the door to more significant risk-taking behaviors in the future. Have you always thought about launching an employee referral program in your department? This kind of initiative is likely to improve the quality of new hires, reduce turnover, and doesn’t have a lot of unpredictability attached to it—but it’s enterprising enough to show your superiors trying new ideas can be beneficial.

2. Inform And Persuade With Evidence

Chances are, your company leaders aren’t just going to take you at your word when it comes to buying in on a change they consider chancy or unnecessary. Not even executives known to be risk-takers are willing to dive in without doing their homework. If your bosses aren’t interested in doing the research, you’ll need to do it for them. Are you passionate about the environment, and you’d like your company to go green? Show your supervisor statistical proof that environmentally friendly practices save companies money in the long run. Find trusted and established sources, compile your findings, and present the evidence in a way that shows your suggestion is practical and workable.

3. Lead By Example

Someone has to step up and show your company that taking risks is positive—and necessary—in the modern business world. You may have to put yourself and your ideas on the line, but if you’re sincere about wanting your organization to move out of its stagnant state and into a position as a front-runner in your industry, you’ll need to take risks. If you’re unwilling to be brave and take chances, how can you expect to change the mindsets of your colleagues and superiors?

Working for a company that’s stuck in the past can be both frustrating and frightening—businesses who refuse to grow or change—or change in the wrong ways—are incredibly insecure. The truth is, stagnation and complacency is actually the riskiest choice of all. If you want your organization to move out of a static and precarious position, make every effort to show your leaders the ways innovation creates stability and drives success.

Mehta said that the government must take risks and ask the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to substantially reduce the interest rate to boost growth, which should be its top priority over inflation in the current situation.

The government must take measures to boost demand, usher in an aggressive interest rate regime, provide support to informal economy, extend moratorium to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and revive distressed sectors such as real estate and hospitality to bring growth back on track, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) chairman and managing director Sanjiv Mehta said on Monday.

In a conversation with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) president Sangita Reddy, Mehta said the government needs to take “special measures” to revive growth as “60% of our economy depends on private consumption” and “demand is the basis of the economy moving into a virtuous cycle”.

“Demand will lead to more investments, investments will lead to more employment, the confidence will go up, people will start spending more and the economy will again, hopefully go back to the kind of rhythm we have seen in the past. Aggressiveness has to come in, bold measures have to come in and the government is willing to take the risk,” he said. Mehta is also vice president of FICCI.

Mehta said that the government must take risks and ask the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to substantially reduce the interest rate to boost growth, which should be its top priority over inflation in the current situation.

Mehta said the 24% contraction of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in first quarter of current financial year is worrisome. Comparing India’s GDP in the time of Covid-19 with some worst-affected nations, he said that India’s stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore lacked the aggressiveness of other countries.

“Today, I would believe that in FY-21 we could perhaps contract anywhere from a floor of -6% and could go up to mid-teens. So that’s the kind of risk we have,” he said. In the last two decades, over 20% of the population has been able to move from the bottom of the pyramid to the lower middle class, so one of the biggest risks we see is that many of these people will again be pushed back to the bottom of the pyramid, he added.

He said there is no alternative with the government but to kick-start the economy because if growth if not revived, the condition of marginal people and the informal sector would take a turn for the worse.

Mehta said although the Rs 20 lakh crore stimuli given in March was necessary to save lives and livelihood, it was not adequate to revive the economy with 1.3 billion people. Therefore, the government must now take decisive measures in terms of a major stimulus to boost demand.

“While, we get it that the government has been circumspect of spending, and to an extent they have kept the powder dry. and also, when we were in a period of hard lockdown, going in for any kind of massive stimulation of demand might not have given the desired results, because people could have ended up saving the money rather than spending the money. But, I think, this is the time where the government need to press the button. press the accelerator,” he said.

“Also, we need to be much more aggressive with the interest rates of the country. Growth and inflation control must move in tandem. There is a risk of inflation, but the bigger risk is the economy going on a tailspin,” he added.

He said this is not the time for the government to worry about fiscal deficit. “Very importantly, the government must create the headroom to spend money. And the headroom will come from taking a very clear decision on the fiscal deficit. There is a curve of cost of doing and the cost of not doing. When the cost of not doing exceeds the cost of doing, then it would be a very unfortunate situation for the country,” he said.

“We should not let that happen; we should take the risk of being aggressive with the spending. Because if we don’t do it now, then it might become a bit too late,” he added.

Mehta said the Covid-19 pandemic is a crisis of huge magnitude, which is not just about an economic crisis. “It is a health and a societal crisis too and it will have far-reaching implications for the world at large,” he said.

“This could impact the global trade significantly. We are today talking about global trade, which at about $ 18 trillion, could possibly decline by 20%. The other big impact that we’ll have is the exacerbating, deteriorating US-China trade relations, where the two-way trade valued at $650 billion, could possibly shift by about $100 billion. This big opportunity is waiting for a country like India to tap in,” he said.

“Geo-political frictions also play a significant role. Unfortunately, even before the pandemic, the global multilateral organisations had weakened. This could also lead to a retreat of globalisation and I believe, it is not in India’s interest to let that happen,” he added.

For all things football

France head coach Didier Deschamps said he is unwilling to take risks with Kylian Mbappe as the world champions look ahead to their Nations League clash against Croatia.

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Mbappe scored the winning goal but hurt his ankle in France’s unconvincing 1-0 victory over Sweden in their Nations League Group A3 opener on Sunday (AEST).

The Paris Saint-Germain star, who overcame an ankle problem to take part in his club’s run to the Champions League final, was substituted with 13 minutes remaining after a blow to his foot in Stockholm.

Deschamps was asked about Mbappe’s fitness as France prepare for Wednesday’s fixture against Croatia – a rematch of the 2018 World Cup final.

“He was better after the game,” Deschamps told reporters. “He took a bad blow on his sensitive ankle. He kept playing, even if I did not take any risk.

“We will see how he feels tomorrow. The other players too. I don’t want to take any risk. So let’s see how his ankle reacts tomorrow. I’ll talk with him to see if he can play on Tuesday against Croatia.”

Deschamps added: “I did not find him less strong than usual. He is not at his best, clearly, as others, but has this power to score all the time as he did on his action of his goal. There are not many players who can do that.

“He has some lightnings, he is maybe not into consistency but he is a permanent danger for the opponent. He had his injury and he tried everything to be there at the Champions League final eight where he plays the final.

“After that he stopped playing. He needs to be careful at the training sessions, before and after. We were not very worried about his ankle, it’s still not the case. As he said, with time it would be better every day.”

Meanwhile, 21-year-old RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano made his debut for France.

Upamecano, who has been linked to Manchester United, was yellow carded early and Deschamps said:” First selection is never easy when you are a young player, and he is a young player.

“He can’t have the same confidence of those who play many games with us. He took an early yellow card, so it’s not just the risks he took as a defender with the ball, it’s more about his fault. Because there are 90 minutes almost to deal with after that, and it changes his way to defend then in his interventions.

“But he needs to go through this period, he has shown a lot of physical presence in the defensive area. He knows how to play in this 3-5-2 system, even if with Leipzig he plays more in the centre of the back three. And it was the first time he played with these players.

“I don’t give excuses, but I take that in consideration for my analysis. He is able to control better [his nerves] but he is a very young player and this game will help him for what comes next.”

10 Tips on how to take risks successfully

We all have to take risks in life, because we can’t possibly know what the future holds for us. We risk of heartbreak when we go into a new relationship, we risk of financial security when we change jobs, and some of us risk our life by pursuing dangerous sports. The successful risk taker, though, doesn’t take risks without thinking about it first. They way up the pros and cons before they take the plunge and they don’t take unnecessary risks. You can never know for sure if a risk will pay off, or it wouldn’t be a risk at all, but you can take steps to ensure that your risk taking doesn’t leave you with nothing. Here are ten ways that you can manage your risk and become a successful risk taker.

1. Understand that you could fail

It is important that you don’t take risks blindly and just assume that everything will work out OK. If you take a risk, you have to be prepared for failure and you need to have a plan in place to help you cope with that failure. It’s not a matter of assuming that you will fail, but you should be prepared for that eventuality and have a plan B.

2. Arm yourself with the facts

Before you take any risk, you should consider what factors may cause you to fail. You can’t know every possible outcome, but you should at least understand the risk that it is you are taking. If you were starting up your own business, you would investigate the competition. If you are getting married and moving in with someone, we would hope that you get to know the person before you sign a joint mortgage agreement. There is a big difference between a calculated risk and rash decision.

3. Never take a risk when you are drunk

You shouldn’t take any big decisions when you’ve had a few too many to drink. Everyone is more prepared to take risks when they have been drinking, but they won’t be really thinking things through properly. If you have had a few drinks and you are presented with a choice, leave it until the morning before you make your decision.

4. Be prepared to lose what you are risking

You have to realise that there is a real possibility that you will lose what you are risking and you have to be happy that you can live with that loss. If you put your home up as security on a business venture, are you really prepared to lose that home if the business fails? It could well be that losing the property is a risk that you think is worth taking, but you have to be sure.

5. Don’t take risks to impress other people

One of the worst reasons for risk taking would be to impress other people. If you take a risk, then it should be one that is for the benefit of you and your family, or to achieve a personal dream. If you do take a risk simply to impress people, those people that you are trying to impress are very unlikely to come to your rescue if things go wrong.

6. Trust your instincts

Having said that you need to be careful about taking risks, you still trust your gut instinct. Once you’ve weighed up the pros and cons as best as you can, the final decider will be your own heart. You can’t wait until you have all the facts in front of you, because you never will. At some point, you will have to take the plunge.

7. Make a risk worthwhile

If you are going to take a big risk, then it should be for something really worthwhile. The potential rewards should far outweigh the risk, or the risk isn’t worth taking in the first place. Business people will conduct sophisticated risk rewards analysis before they take big decisions and you should go through a similar process. It’s really just a case of weighing up the chances of success against the chances of failure. If you were a gambler, you wouldn’t risk $10,000 for a chance to win $5.

8. Don’t be put off by failure

So, you weighed it all up, you took the risk and it didn’t work out; what do you do next? The successful risk taker will look closely at what happened, learn from it, and try again. If you really want to achieve your goal, then one or two setbacks shouldn’t put you off trying again.

9. But do know when to quit!

It’s all very well being persistent, but it is important that you know when to stop. If you have risked money on a business venture, for example, and it isn’t working, don’t throw away more money to keep it afloat. A good risk taker knows when to quit, because then he can regroup and try something new.

10. Don’t be afraid to take risks

Taking risks is what makes things happen, so don’t be so risk averse that you never try anything. The degree of risk that people are willing to accept varies from person to person, but we all have to take some risks to get the things we want.

Solskjaer has always wanted United to be more adventurous but they struggled until the new signing’s arrival

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“I’ve got more than one game-changer,” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said at the Amex on Tuesday night and given the style and verve of the victory he had just witnessed that may well be the case. Only one player has changed Manchester United’s season though, practically turning it on its head.

Following his brace in Brighton, Bruno Fernandes has now scored five Premier League goals and set up three others, surpassing any other top-flight player over the same period. Only Robin van Persie had more after as many games at the start of his United career.

Fernandes’s long-awaited arrival from Sporting in late January practically coincided with the start of United’s 15-game unbeaten run across all competitions. He did not play in the first two – joining after the win at Tranmere and missing the EFL Cup semi-final second leg away to Manchester City – yet it’s hard to imagine we would be talking about this run if he had never signed at all.

Sure, he was expected to make an impact, but did anyone expect this? “We have some top players and Bruno has come and been fantastic,” Solskjaer said. “He has brought that winning mentality with him – that 99 per cent is not good enough, it has to be 100 per cent.”

But if Fernandes is about high percentages when it comes to the mentality, work rate and effort that Solskjaer demands, the rest of his game is one of low percentages. For example, would it surprise you to learn that his pass completion rate was the worst of any player on Tuesday night? Lower even than David de Gea’s?

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It shouldn’t. Fernandes’s game isn’t built on safe sideways passes to help retain possession. It is built around the pass that only comes off once every so often, but when it comes off, it counts.

Nor is he about tap-ins – even if, ironically, for United’s third goal he finished off a brilliant, sweeping counter-attack from a distance of about seven yards. He is about goals like his first of the night, the slightly scuffed shot outside the box that only beats the goalkeeper once in every ten.

Do you like those odds? Probably not, but then watching Solskjaer’s United before Fernandes arrived was like having a go on the copper coin pushers at a Blackpool arcade. Low stakes and little, if any, reward.

That was something Solskjaer highlighted back in October, when United had won two of their first eight league games and the decision to appoint him on a permanent basis was being scrutinised for the first time.

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“If you watch the best teams around, they risk the ball more often than we do, make more runs in behind and that’s part of the process for the boys,” Solskjaer said. “When they’re losing confidence, maybe they want to play a bit more safe and it’s my duty to say ‘come on’. It’s not [about] safety here. At this club, you do take risks.” Good news. Taking risks is his new signing’s raison d’etre.

Of course, Fernandes will not be the decisive presence in every game, or even play particularly well. In fact, his style is likely to result in a few truly dreadful performances every now and again, where his cavalier approach will cost United. Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final at Carrow Road was not a bad display by any stretch but still his least effective since joining and it told in an all-round underwhelming team performance.

But on the night of United’s last defeat some 15 games ago, when Solskjaer’s side had nearly three-quarters of the ball against Burnley yet succumbed to a two-goal defeat, they were desperate for someone to break them out of their stupor, like in so many disappointing performances before it.

Fernandes joined five days later and United have not looked the same since.

1 /1 Fernandes is teaching United how to take risks again

Fernandes is teaching United how to take risks again

Bruno Fernandes is teaching Manchester United how to take risks again

Solskjaer has always wanted United to be more adventurous but they struggled until the new signing’s arrival

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