★ Rich Habit #17: Not Fearing Risk

This is part of our Rich Habits series, by best-selling author Tom Corley. Be sure to check out all previous habits we’ve covered!

Successful people are risk-takers. They take risks that make most others cower in fear. You cannot possibly succeed without taking risk. But the risk I am referring to is not the type of risk that gamblers take. The risk successful people take is known as Calculated Risk. This is a type of risk that requires thoughtful analysis. It requires that you study all of the variables of any initiative you're considering taking. When you take Calculated Risk, you prepare yourself for all possible contingencies. It means you’ve identified every potential scenario that could lead to failure. And it requires a lot of work and thought. As a result, you are never blindsided when something goes wrong. You never panic when things go wrong. You have well thought-out plans for each contingency. You’re prepared for the worst. That’s Calculated Risk. Unsuccessful people take Uncalculate**d** Risks. Gambling is an example of Uncalculated Risk. Risk that requires no thought, no analysis, no work and very little investment in time. Gambling is the lazy man’s risk. The results of my 5-year study confirmed that the Rich are willing to take risks. When asked the question: “I’ve taken a risk in search of wealth” 63% of Rich people agreed while only 6% of Poor people agreed. A lot of the wealthy people in my study were business owners who started their own businesses. They became successes because they were master self-educators who learned from the school of hard knocks. In fact, 27% of the wealthy people in my study admitted that they failed at least once in life or in business, compared with 2% of the poor. Failure is like scar tissue on the brain - the lessons last forever.

In Summary

Successful people are not afraid to take risks. They are not afraid to invest time, money and thought into pursuing something they are passionate about. ***** All previous Rich Habits can be found here. These were the last four, in case you've missed any: