UP

Risks are not created equal. If they don’t go the way we hope, some are devastating and some are no big deal. But the intensity of a risk’s riskiness isn’t the only complexity to unpack.

 

When we stop focusing on whether we are good or bad risk-takers, and turn our attention to understanding our inherent “risk profile,” we take some of the sting out of the risk equation. A “risk profile,” is a sort of temperament or personality that plays out as either aversion or affinity towards different risks we face. All of us are taking risks but usually ones that we feel most comfortable with so we don't give ourselves credit for them and obsess about the ones that we don't feel good at.

 

Even though we may brazenly worship the big-shot financial or physical risk takers, there’s no hierarchy to the types of risk. In fact, emotional, social, political and intellectual risk might carry the promise of even more meaningful transformation than the highly visible variety.

 

Knowing your risk profile is a powerful PRIME tool, readying you for the risks worth taking, the risks to avoid if you can, and understanding how and when it's worth stepping towards the risk zones you are averse to.