As humans we are designed to be afraid of taking risks, but a certain amount of risk is necessary to achieve success. In this very special episode Eric Friedensohn (a talented lettering artist and friend of the show) joins Femke to discuss why it’s important to take risks, and how to be smart about them.
It takes a certain amount of risk to achieve success. People who are successful have something unique about their work, a smart decision they made, or perhaps a great work ethic. All of those things can be seen as risks (of trying something new, of not working out, of missing out on other things) but if you don’t risk the failure, you don’t get a chance at the success that comes as the flipside.
Risks don’t have to be something spontaneous. Doing risk assessment is a smart idea. Write a pros and cons list and think through the impacts before you take a big leap.
Put yourself out of your comfort zone. Taking risks is character building, and it opens your mind to new possibilities. You don’t need to turn your life around 180 degrees to get out of your comfort zone; risks can be small-scale too. Take small steps to add some new elements to your life and work and it will do wonders for your learning.
00:00 - Intro to the show and to Eric
04:40 - What is a risk?
07:00 - Different levels of risk
09:50 - Wasting time with risks
11:35 - Risks are needed to achieve success
15:10 - When is a risk worth taking?
18:40 - Eric’s next risk: Moving abroad
23:20 - What to do when you know you need a change
27:30 - What to do when a risk doesn’t pay off
