3 approaches to risk

What do you do when you face a storm?
* Cancel your journey and run towards your sweet home.
* Look for a shelter/anchor around and wait for the storm to pass.
* Or run towards the storm to face it.

Well these are the 3 basic types of reactions which people do choose. (Some of you may be wondering as to how the third option can be a valid choice; I will talk about it little later.)

These are 3 basic techniques to face the storm. These are also 3 ways by which we face problems or turbulent time in our lives.

1. Safe approach- In this technique, you do not want to take risks, so on getting the indications of any problem or trouble you slip back or withdraw to your protective comfort zone. It is the most common approach.

2. The matured one – You do not postpone or cancel your plans on getting indications of troubles. You know, ‘this too will pass’. All you ‘look for’ is a suitable anchor to hold on and keep doing whatever is your already chosen job. Some selected people do take this approach.

3. The entrepreneurs’ urge- You want to come out of it very fast. You don’t even wait for it to pass with its own speed. So you run against it taking all possible risks so that you are out of it in much lesser time than others. This is a rare approach in which risks as well as rewards are very high.

These 3 techniques are suitable for 3 different types of circumstances.

If you have something to protect, if you own something which has got value which you don’t want to lose it, then safe approach is most suitable. Most of the times we want to protect our job, relationship or position in society. So we are neither very keen to change our behavior pattern easily nor we take big risks even after provocations.

With time we all gather experience in one field or other. Once we become master of some field, we realize that most of time desired results can be achieved irrespective of the prevailing circumstances as long as we possess the critical required resources. This is suitable situation to take the matured approach and don’t get disturbed by minor resistances.

When you have not got much to lose, your urge to take bigger risks and get bigger rewards increases. You want to gamble and this looks a profitable business to you. Some time due to sudden & unexpected loss, you are forced to take this approach by the circumstances, not by choice.

Many times, we take one of the 3 approaches repeatedly and this becomes our habit. We start following that approach unconsciously & mechanically. By such selection, we become typed persons. We become slave to our own personality like some good artist becomes typed in her/his own image and lose their charm.

Do you do a realistic assessment of the risk and decided your approach or do it as a matter of habit?

If it is a habitual and compulsive selection, you better do something about it. Beware, old habits die hard.