Taking risks is an act of courage or fear?

These last days I have been thinking about taking risks in life, and what this means to me!

I have been listening and reading that is one of the biggest virtues in life and one of the biggest drivers to succeed.

I am not sure how I fit in this sphere, I believe I have been developing something…, in my job I am considered quite good balancing risks and decision making! Within my friends I am considered just crazy, as I am the one who normally says let’s go without thinking!

I was raised in an environment which there was afraid of the unknown, there was afraid of the economy of the country, and my family were in a survival mode which the main goal in life was about to have a place to live safely and food at dinner time. The most important thing of being employed was the job security and the perks that job could give.

I was listening everyday from my mom that my priority would be to go to college and have a degree, which would enable me to have a better life,… but when I finished my engineer degree, my mom would pray for me to find a good job, which means a job for life from 9 to 5, with excellent perks, and with a status of being an engineer with nice business cards, company car and a phone!

I never traveled, never caught a plane until I was in college, and my goals were take a degree and then live and work in an area no more than 20 miles of my town, to be close of my family.

I didn’t know people who had quit their jobs to pursue their dreams, or just drop college to make a long trip around the world. Actually I am not sure what were my dreams in that time.

The definition of taking risks in the article from Megan Tull from HuffPost triggers my mind:

“Risk taking can be defined as: “Undertaking a task in which there is a lack of certainty or a fear of failure.” The problem at the core of risk taking is fear; fear of failure, fear of success, fear of looking like a fool, fear of seeming ignorant, fear of seeming too aggressive.  Taking risk means confronting the fears/challenges and having the courage to move forward.”

After reading this definition, I think I finished college and got a job 9 to 5 because I didn’t know other option in life, and I was so afraid to fail that I figure it out, even when I had to commute to college using different public transports with an expired pass because I didn’t have money to buy a new one.

During college I had like 3 jobs at the same time I was studying, commuting 3 hours per day from my parents house to the campus, and sleeping between 3 to 4 hours per night.

I feel all this drive was about to finish college, have a degree, with the fear to don’t have another option in life…but the journey itself taught me so much that I believe the decisions I made in life was because I was in alert to the world around me, like listening people experiences, like reading a lot, and building the confidence to take risks outside my direct environment. I believe this was the main learning for me and now I use everyday in my daily job with my teams.

But at the end, is this courage…or fear?

I think it was fear which could be named as continuous curiosity…

Thank you

AnnaJo

Links from inspiration: (Megan Tull, Regina Huber, Jena Rodriguez)

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-tull/how-taking-risks-evokes-l_b_10843744.html

http://bravemasters.com/161podcast/

http://www.transformyourperformance.com/blog/