By: Dr. Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Sr. Associate Editor, ICN Group
(In the past article, we knew about how you can construct your own life by understanding the need & benefits of taking responsibility of your life. Today, we will know about how to take calculated risks while taking big decisions in life.)
Don’t be afraid of taking calculated risks
While taking responsibility of your life, don’t be afraid of taking the calculated risks with do or die attitude.
This is the ‘do or die’ attitude, which leads to success. If you are confident, forget about all the ways to return. March ahead with full vigour and you will succeed. When Caesar sailed to British Island having a wish to conquer Britain, he offloaded all his troops and supplies and ordered to burn all the ships. He closed all the doors of return. Then he addressed his soldiers, “Now it is win or perish. We have no choice.”
Here I want to share a real-life example of calculated risk with do or die attitude. One good friend of mine is Dharmendra Srivastava, who is a Chartered Accountant. He shared his story with me. He told that after successful completion of the course of Chartered Accountancy, he was offered a job of Credit Manager in Canara Bank, which was considered to be a prestigious job at that time. But by heart, he wanted to excel in private practice. Everybody in the family and his friends were pressurising him to first join the job and keep on trying on his own mission of starting practice. But he had a vision and had firm belief in his capabilities. He decided to tear off the appointment letter and throw it in dustbin, so that there is no point of return and decided to pursue his dream with passion. The risk was huge because when you finish your professional course from any Institute, good career opportunities knock your doorstep in the form of campus placement. But if you don’t accept the offers in campus placement, later on, you have to go to the marketplace in search of a job, which is a difficult task these days. But he had clarity in his thoughts. He took the risk but his risk was calculated one, as he had firm belief in his capabilities and his determination and resolve brought him success in due course. Today, he is not only a successful practitioner of Income Tax and Service Tax, he is an acclaimed speaker and speaks even internationally.
I take another real-life example of mine to show how to take calculated risks. When I was serving as Senior Intelligence Officer with Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence and planning to retire at the age of 50 to start my own workshops, the decision was very tough and attracted lots of criticism from my well-wishers, whether in family or friends. But they did not know that I had already judged my decision from different angles and I had weighed the potential risks and potential obstacles against the potential rewards. Though my actual analysis is very long and runs into 8 pages, I am giving you a summary to give you an idea, how to judge the risk while taking a big decision of life.
First of all, I asked myself, what is my vision; why I want to do these workshops? I got a reply from inside that I want to work upon the mindset of present & future generations, which is the need of the hour. Then I asked, what are the benefits to me from these workshops. The reply was that I will have more free time for myself and my family; will be free to do social service; will have peace of mind, as there will be no control of any organisation over me; will have control over my time, as now I will be in a position to plan all of my 24 hours, seven days a week; I will be able to go for a morning walk regularly; I will have a regular time schedule of exercises and meditation; I will have more time with my family. Biggest of all, I would have control over my choices related to my time utilisation. Then I explored about the skills and the help required and potential risks & obstacles. When I finished my analysis, I wrote down 15 reasons, why I would not fail. Then I discussed all the above analysis with my family members and close well-wishers and decided that I should go ahead to take calculated risk.
Remember, your dream is your dream and you have to work for your dream. Nobody else is going to work upon your dream. Even if you have to make some sacrifices, make it.
(In the next article, we will touch a very crucial topic i.e. importance of inculcating empowering values & habits. I believe that you are enjoying the journey towards the future of your dreams with me. If yes, please stay tuned every Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday. Happy G.O.P.T.A.)
Dr. Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Creator & copyright holder of the concept G.O.P.T.A.© is an Author, Certified NLP Lifestyle Master Practitioner, Corporate Trainer & Motivational Speaker and recipient of Honorary Doctorate of Excellence (Management) by prestigious Young Scientist University, California, USA. He is Founder of ‘Read, Learn & Earn Movement’ and is popularly known among his fans & followers across the globe as ‘Time and Goal Guru’.
