homework5[1]The other day my niece asked me to help her with her school homework project. She sent me an email saying she had to interview an entrepreneur.  I thought I would share my answers with you as trust uses many of the principles of entrepreneurship, especially risk.

Jen,

You are making me work hard.. Here are the answers to your questions. Good Luck!

1. What does risk taking mean to you?

As an entrepreneur I cannot be successful without taking some Risks. Risk can mean failure which brings up the emotion of fear and people avoid something that scares them. That’s also the reason so many people quit. Entrepreneurs know they must get beyond their fear of seeing failure as a learning experience. We adopt the philosophy of “failing faster” so we can be successful sooner. Think of Thomas Edison and the number of times he had to fail on his way to finding a successful light bulb.

2. Would you say you need creativity to take risks, or courage?

Creativity and Courage are like sisters, Creativity is envisioning something new or rearranging parts in a new way that has not been seen before. Courage is the ability to put those ideas into action. Both creativity and courage involve leaving open the opportunity to fail and therefore both have risk.

3. When do you think taking a risk is a bad thing?

Whenever you sacrifice a highly held value for a lesser one. For example taking hard earned money that you need for food and shelter and gambling it in an attempt to get more. Or risking short term pleasure and sacrificing long term physical health or relationships.

4. Why would someone take risks?

In order to grow yourself you have to change. The Chinese symbol for change is the combination of two words, Risk and Opportunity. You cannot improve your life without taking some risks and the more risks (value based) that you take the more you will grow as a human being. This is true for individuals and organizations.

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5. Why would some one consider risk taking an important life skill?

Everyday life asks you if you want to get out of bed and risk that it might be a good day or a bad day. By saying yes to risk you say yes to your life and your potential. The more you make risk taking a habit/skill the more you will manifest in the world, the more of you that is in the world the better the world will be. I often think that the mothers of the world are ruining the next generation of innovators. What is it they say to their kids on the way out the door? “Be Careful” , right? They should be saying “Honey, Don’t forget, TAKE SOME RISKS”! So…get out there and take some RISKS.

Thanks for making me think about my own philosophy on risk.

Love

UT