benefits of taking risks essay

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The Power of Taking Risks: Benefits and Challenges

• Categories: Risk Taking

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Words: 655 |

Published: Jan 29, 2024

Words: 655 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Definition of taking risks, benefits of taking risks, challenges and drawbacks of taking risks, strategies for calculated risk-taking, examples of risk-taking in different fields.

• Adams, S. (2017). The art and science of taking risks. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2017/06/27/the-art-and-science-of-taking-risks/?sh=3a60438a5d97
• Gulati, R. (2018). The risks and rewards of taking risks. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2018/03/the-risks-and-rewards-of-taking-risks
• Smith, C. (2020). What are the advantages and disadvantages of taking risks? Investopedia. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/risk-returntradeoff.asp

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It is Important for People to Take Risks, Both in Professional and Personal Lives - Task 2 Band 9

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

It is important for people to take risks, both in their professional lives and their personal lives.

Do you think the advantages of taking risks outweigh the disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experiences.

You should write at least 250 words.

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Model Essay 1

Navigating through life's myriad challenges requires a balance of prudence and daring. The crux of this discourse lies in whether the benefits of taking risks overshadow the potential drawbacks. This essay posits that the rewards of risk-taking, particularly in fostering innovation and personal growth, significantly outweigh the inherent disadvantages.

In the professional realm, embracing risk is fundamentally synonymous with the relentless pursuit of innovation and leadership. Consider the origin stories of numerous tech giants; their early days are replete with instances where calculated risks catalyzed groundbreaking innovations, propelling them to dominance in their respective industries. Google's early investment in a revolutionary algorithm to rank web pages transformed the dynamics of how information is accessed and shared, exemplifying how risk-taking is absolutely indispensable in pioneering significant change. Moreover, the willingness to venture into uncharted territories equips individuals with unparalleled resilience and adaptability, skills paramount in navigating today's rapidly evolving job market.

On the personal front, taking risks is undeniably pivotal in cultivating a deeply fulfilling life. It encourages individuals to boldly step out of their comfort zones, thereby facilitating significant personal growth and self-discovery. For instance, the decision to relocate to a new country for work or education, though daunting, opens up invaluable avenues for cultural exchange and broadening one's perspectives. Such enriching experiences significantly enhance one's character, fostering a profound sense of independence and self-efficacy. Furthermore, confronting fears and embracing the inherent uncertainty of life can lead to a more adventurous and vibrant existence, filled with compelling stories worth sharing and celebrating.

In conclusion, while risk-taking is inherently fraught with the potential for failure, the advantages it brings, both professionally and personally, are invaluable. It is the catalyst for innovation, personal growth, and resilience. Thus, despite the possible setbacks, the act of taking risks is a fundamental driver of progress and personal fulfillment, underscoring its predominant benefits over the disadvantages.

Sample Essay 2

In the tapestry of life, the threads of risk-taking are interwoven, playing a pivotal role in shaping both our professional and personal landscapes. This essay contends that the merits of embracing risks far surpass the potential drawbacks, particularly in the realms of career advancement and personal fulfillment.

Professionally, risk-taking is synonymous with innovation and progress. Consider the realm of entrepreneurship, where individuals like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos embarked on ventures fraught with uncertainty. Musk’s investment in SpaceX, despite initial failures, revolutionized space travel, exemplifying how risk-taking can lead to epoch-making breakthroughs. Similarly, in the corporate sphere, employees who embrace risks by spearheading novel projects or adopting untested strategies often find themselves climbing the career ladder more swiftly. These instances demonstrate that while risk can entail the possibility of failure, its absence might result in stagnation, a far more insidious threat to professional growth.

In the personal domain, risk-taking often manifests in the pursuit of meaningful relationships and life experiences. Venturing into new social circles or initiating significant life changes, like relocating for a dream job or pursuing a passion, can lead to profound personal growth and happiness. For example, the decision to study or work abroad, though daunting, often results in expanded worldviews and lifelong connections. Thus, the risks we take in our personal lives, while potentially exposing us to vulnerabilities, are instrumental in crafting a rich, fulfilling life narrative. However, it is essential to acknowledge that risk-taking, devoid of prudence, can lead to adverse outcomes. The key, therefore, lies in calculated risks – those informed by careful consideration and sound judgment.

In conclusion, the act of taking risks, when approached with foresight and balance, predominantly tilts the scales towards positive outcomes. The amalgamation of professional courage and personal audacity not only paves the way for groundbreaking achievements and enriching life experiences but also ignites the spark of innovation and personal growth, making it an indispensable element in the odyssey of human success and satisfaction.

Sample Essay 3

The act of taking risks is often seen as an essential stepping stone towards success in both one's personal and professional life. While such actions can lead to uncertain outcomes and potential setbacks, the rewards that can be reaped when risks are taken judiciously often far surpass the potential downsides. This essay will argue that the advantages of risk-taking, when approached wisely, generally outweigh the disadvantages, providing a catalyst for personal growth, fostering resilience, and encouraging innovation.

Risk-taking, though potentially leading to adverse outcomes, can also be the catalyst for substantial rewards and advancements. The potential ramifications are hard to deny: an individual choosing to abandon a secure salaried job for an entrepreneurial venture, for instance, may find themselves in a precarious situation of financial instability, affecting their mental well-being and family life. High-risk activities such as skydiving or mountaineering could also lead to severe physical injuries due to the inherent risks involved. Simultaneously, however, an excess of caution and predictability can inhibit personal and professional growth. A complacent employee, despite dissatisfaction in their current role, may see their motivation for self-improvement dwindle and miss opportunities for career progression.

In the realm of personal relationships, those limiting themselves to a narrow social circle might stunt their emotional growth. Conversely, those willing to broaden their social horizons often cultivate empathy, resilience, and a more expansive perspective on life, which is particularly beneficial in societies where social interactions are somewhat constricted. It's crucial to note that risk-taking does not imply recklessness; it often involves careful assessment, robust decision-making, and resilience - invaluable life skills. An iconic example is Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX. Known for his calculated risk-taking, Musk ventured into the risky domain of private space travel, investing personal capital, overcoming significant challenges, and ultimately revolutionizing the aerospace industry.

In conclusion, while risk-taking can indeed pose certain threats, its advantages, when approached thoughtfully, significantly outweigh the potential hazards. The willingness to step out of one's comfort zone, coupled with strategic planning, offers broad benefits, from career advancements to enriched personal relationships.

Sample Essay 4

Some contend that taking a risk has more advantages than disadvantages for both individuals and professions. Although it sacrifices security and predictability, I am certain that choosing hazardous alternatives has benefits that outweigh the drawbacks since it opens up new chances.

Risk-taking may have a negative impact on your finances as well as your physical health, whether it be through unforeseen injuries, car accidents, or spending money on exciting travel destinations. Even if you want to take risks in business, there are times when doing too many risky things might end up costing you too much money to keep going. If your carelessness results in an accident that injures you or another else, you may be held liable for any damages. This will not only deplete your current budget but also increase the cost of your car insurance in the future. Unjustified risk-taking may have additional negative effects on your money. Some people take a risk by deciding not to budget or live within their means. Impulsive spending and extravagant purchases could at first seem adventurous and daring, but they will gradually undermine one's riches and self-respect over time.

But going with the tried-and-true method is the most boring option. When you travel, staying with the herd will enable you to see the traditional, well-travelled locations. If you adopt other people's business or dating approaches, you'll develop a regular clientele. However, taking risks forces you to step outside of your comfort zone and use your imagination. When you take a chance, you have to come up with novel ideas and capture novel opportunities. By putting yourself in uncommon situations, taking chances enables you to develop unanticipated relationships. For instance, you typically are ignorant of how good two unrelated things may be unless you can combine them.

In conclusion, I still think that grabbing chances is far more productive and profitable in the long run, even though adopting a risk-taking attitude could have detrimental impacts on one's health and wealth.

Sample Essay 5

The choices that individuals make in their lives have far-reaching consequences. Taking risks can have a significant impact their career and personal relationships. In this essay, I will discuss as to why risk-taking is more beneficial than harmful in our lives.

There are multiple advantages in taking risks, both in our professional as well as personal lives. With respect to our work, this leads to better innovation, unexpected discoveries and technological disruptions. For example, venture capitalists invest in fledgling start-ups with the expectation of giving rise to next big thing like Facebook, Amazon. Without the inherent risk involved in making these decisions, we would not have today’s great technological giants. In our personal lives too, taking a leap of faith can be fruitful in finding a suitable life companion and making new friends. The current array of dating and social networking apps certainly embody an element of risk. Although meeting strangers via these can be disconcerting to many, it increases our chances of creating more meaningful relationships. Therefore, these positive aspects surely merits people to take risks in their lives.

However, the downsides to risk-tasking also do exist. In the professional setting, risk can play the role of a double-edged sword in many instances. Investing by taking on additional risk in unproven companies can possibly result in sizeable monetary losses. Indulging in risk-taking behaviour can also negatively impact our personal lives. It can lead to bodily injuries, self-harm, substance abuse and addictions. This is most evident in our youth who are driven by peer pressure to experiment with risky activities such as gambling, speeding while driving and consumption of harmful drugs.

In conclusion, even though there are certain disadvantages to taking risks, I think the advantages outweigh them. It plays an important role in people’s personal and professional lives enriching their careers and relationships. The lost opportunities without risk-tasking are unimaginable.

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IELTS Cambridge 17 Essay: Taking risks in professional and personal lives

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By ieltsnotes

Table of Contents

IELTS Essay Question

Plan your answer.

Sample Answer

Taking risks is a normal part of life and it presents us with both opportunities and challenges . This essay will detail the reasons why the benefits of taking risks far outweigh the drawbacks.

In the business world, taking risks can open up the opportunity for unexpected growth. The website called makingsenseofcents.com is a great example. The owner of the website made a risky decision to quit her job and turn her blogging side hustle into a full-time career several years ago. This decision to step out of her comfort zone into the unknown has helped turned her blog into a multi-million-dollar business, which was something that she never expected when she started blogging. Taking risks also helps people conquer their fears in their everyday lives. For example, if someone afraid of public speaking took the opportunity to give a presentation in front of a crowd, it could help them to confront their fear and turn it into faith that they are capable of doing anything as long as they put in enough effort.

However, doing something risky might lead to failure if the risks involved are not properly calculated. Many people spend several years trying to turn their part-time blogging job into a successful business but fail and have to return to the nine-to-five rat race . Those years could have been better spent honing their skills at work, which might have helped them to climb the corporate ladder or be offered a pay rise. In addition, the courage to speak in front of a crowd in the above example might turn into a disaster if the speaker does not take the time to carefully prepare for the presentation. In some cases, this might be an opportunity for others to make fun of them and make them lose the courage to try public speaking again. However, these risks can be minimized if people carefully calculate the risks involved.

In conclusion, the benefits of taking risks, including exponential business growth and overcoming fear, outweigh any drawbacks because the chance of failure is reduced if people take calculated risks.

Useful vocabulary

• present somebody with something = to cause something such as a problem, threat, or opportunity
• side hustle = a part-time job that a person does as well as their regular job
• comfort zone = a situation in which you feel comfortable and in which your ability and determination are not being tested
• the unknown = a place, situation, or thing that is not known about or understood
• conquer something = to succeed in dealing with or controlling something
• be afraid of … = feeling fear; frightened because you think that you might be hurt or suffer
• be capable of … = having the ability or qualities necessary for doing something
• the rat race = a way of life in modern society, in which people compete with each other for power and money
• the corporate ladder = the proverbial climb up a company’s employment hierarchy, where career advancement is likened to climbing rungs on a ladder
• make fun of somebody/something = to make a joke about someone or something in a way that is not kind

IELTS Writing Task 1 Essay: Consumption of energy in the USA since 1980

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IELTS Essay Topic: It is important for people to take risks, in both their professional lives and personal lives.

• Updated on  
• May 22, 2023

Q- It is important for people to take risks, in both their professional lives and personal lives. Do the advantages of taking these risks outweigh the disadvantages?

Ans- The importance of risk-taking in both professional and personal aspects of life is a topic of great significance. While some argue that the benefits of taking risks outweigh the drawbacks, others highlight the potential disadvantages. This essay will examine how the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

Taking risks offers several advantages. Firstly, it fosters personal growth and development. Stepping outside one’s comfort zone and embracing calculated risks can lead to the acquisition of new skills, increased confidence, and expanded capabilities. Secondly, risk-taking is often a catalyst for innovation and progress. Many scientific breakthroughs, technological advancements, and entrepreneurial successes have resulted from individuals and organizations daring to take risks. With embracing uncertainty, society may experience significant advancements. Lastly, taking risks allows individuals to seize opportunities that may lead to personal or professional success. By embracing uncertainty, individuals are more likely to experience new avenues of growth and achievements.

While the advantages of taking risks are compelling, it is crucial to weigh them against the potential disadvantages. One of the most significant perils is the possibility of failure and its associated consequences. Risk-taking involves a level of uncertainty, and not all risks yield positive outcomes. Failure can lead to financial loss, setbacks, and a decline in morale. Secondly, it can be accompanied by increased stress and anxiety. It thus becomes essential to learn to strike a balance between calculated risk-taking and prudent decision-making, otherwise, it could lead to disastrous consequences. 

In conclusion, risk-taking plays a significant role in personal and professional lives and the benefits definitely overwhelm the drawbacks. The advantages, including personal growth, innovation, and seizing opportunities, highlight the importance of embracing uncertainty. However, the potential drawbacks, such as failure, stress, and reckless decision-making, should be taken into account. By assessing risks carefully, individuals can harness the advantages while minimizing the potential disadvantages, allowing them to navigate the path to success with confidence.

Outline statement:  The importance of risk-taking in both professional and personal aspects of life is a topic of great significance.

Paraphrased statement:  While some argue that the benefits of taking risks outweigh the drawbacks, others highlight the potential disadvantages. 

Thesis statement:  This essay will examine the advantages and disadvantages of risk-taking and provide an analysis of whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

Body paragraph 1-Topic sentence: Taking risks offers several advantages. 

Body paragraph 1- Supporting evidence: Firstly, it fosters personal growth and development. Stepping outside one’s comfort zone and embracing calculated risks can lead to the acquisition of new skills, increased confidence, and expanded capabilities. Secondly, risk-taking is often a catalyst for innovation and progress. 

Body paragraph 1- Analysis: Many scientific breakthroughs, technological advancements, and entrepreneurial successes have resulted from individuals and organizations daring to take risks. Without embracing uncertainty, society may miss out on significant advancements. Lastly, taking risks allows individuals to seize opportunities that may lead to personal or professional success. By embracing uncertainty, individuals are more likely to experience new avenues of growth and achievements.

Body paragraph 2- Topic sentence: While the advantages of taking risks are compelling, it is crucial to weigh them against the potential disadvantages. 

Body paragraph 2- Supporting evidence: One of the most significant perils is the possibility of failure and its associated consequences. Risk-taking involves a level of uncertainty, and not all risks yield positive outcomes. Failure can lead to financial loss, setbacks, and a decline in morale. 

Body paragraph 2- Analysis:  Secondly, it can be accompanied by increased stress and anxiety. It thus becomes essential to learn to strike a balance between calculated risk-taking and prudent decision-making, otherwise, it could lead to disastrous consequences. 

Conclusion: In conclusion, risk-taking plays a significant role in personal and professional lives and the benefits definitely overwhelm the drawbacks. The advantages, including personal growth, innovation, and seizing opportunities, highlight the importance of embracing uncertainty. However, the potential drawbacks, such as failure, stress, and reckless decision-making, should be taken into account. By assessing risks carefully, individuals can harness the advantages while minimizing the potential disadvantages, allowing them to navigate the path to success with confidence.

Vocabulary 

The importance of risk-taking in both professional and personal aspects of life is a topic of great significance . While some argue that the benefits of taking risks outweigh the drawbacks, others highlight the potential disadvantages. This essay will examine the advantages and disadvantages of risk-taking and provide an analysis of whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

Taking risks offers several advantages. Firstly, it fosters personal growth and development. Stepping outside one’s comfort zone and embracing calculated risks can lead to the acquisition of new skills, increased confidence, and expanded capabilities. Secondly, risk-taking is often a catalyst for innovation and progress. Many scientific breakthroughs , technological advancements, and entrepreneurial successes have resulted from individuals and organizations daring to take risks. Without embracing uncertainty, society may miss out on significant advancements. Lastly, taking risks allows individuals to seize opportunities that may lead to personal or professional success. By embracing uncertainty, individuals are more likely to experience new avenues of growth and achievements.

While the advantages of taking risks are compelling , it is crucial to weigh them against the potential disadvantages. One of the most s ignificant perils is the possibility of failure and its associated consequences . Risk-taking involves a level of uncertainty , and not all risks yield positive outcomes. Failure can lead to financial loss, setbacks , and a decline in morale . Secondly, it can be accompanied by increased stress and anxiety. It thus becomes essential to learn to strike a balance between calculated risk-taking and prudent decision-making, otherwise, it could lead to disastrous consequences. 

In conclusion, risk-taking plays a significant role in personal and professional lives and the benefits definitely overwhelm the drawbacks. The advantages, including personal growth, innovation, and seizing opportunities, highlight the importance of embracing uncertainty. However, the potential drawbacks , such as failure, stress, and reckless decision-making, should be taken into account. By assessing risks carefully, individuals can harness the advantages while minimizing the potential disadvantages, allowing them to navigate the path to success with confidence.

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The Pros and Cons of Taking Risks in Writing

Kyle A. Massa

I wouldn’t be much fun in Vegas.

Why? Well, I’m too risk-averse. And in an environment built around risking your money to make more money, I probably wouldn’t thrive.

However, you’ll find a contradiction here. Because as much as I avoid risks with money, I love taking them in my writing.

When is it wise to do something risky with your writing? When might you not want to? Let’s discuss.

Writing Is Art, Not Science

Risks must be taken for a reason, could your writing be riskier, is your writing too risky.

We all know that, of course. Yet there are so many books, podcasts, and videos out there that would have us believe otherwise. They assure us that if we follow a certain formula, our stories will "work." And yes, it’s true that some storytelling structures (Save the Cat, three-act structure, Hero's Journey) have been proven to have more commercial appeal.

By deviating from these guidelines, you’re probably taking a risk. If you write a non-linear story, for example, like Emily St. John Mandel‘s Station Eleven , you’re taking a risk. You’re acknowledging that there’s a certain way most books are written, and you’re writing yours in a manner that might not appeal to all readers.

Yet Station Eleven is a very successful and popular novel, in large part because of the risks taken in writing it. So how did this book succeed, despite its deviations from established narrative norms?

It’s because the book’s risky business (its non-linear style) wasn’t done on a whim. It was done with purpose, and executed well. We learn how certain important items make it from one time period to the next. We find that a particular pair of younger and older characters are actually the same person. And we discover that characters we never knew were related are actually connected by blood. It’s moments like these that make St. John Mandel’s risks not just complementary—they’re essential.

Anyone can shoehorn non-linear narrative, second person point of view , surrealistic imagery, and more into their work. But that doesn’t necessarily improve the story. Every risk should be taken for a reason.

For example, take my favorite novel, American Gods by Neil Gaiman. The book’s main plot is a traditional story: third person, past tense, linear progression. However, there are numerous side stories scattered throughout. It took me several reads before I fully grasped the purpose of these side stories, and how they fit into the larger narrative.

Gaiman took a risk by adding these stories. He gambled on his readers’ interest in stepping away from the main thread, if only for a few pages at a time. But I’d say that risk paid off, and was therefore worth it. He wanted to explore more of America than just the experience of his protagonist. The side stories did that, and so much more.

If you find yourself uninterested in your ideas or you feel they’re unoriginal, maybe you’re not taking enough risks. Maybe you’re clinging too firmly to convention when you could be exploring something new.

If this sounds like you, I suggest setting aside time for imaginative play. This is a term I learned from Jeff VanderMeer’s Wonderbook , and I think it’s excellent. Imaginative play means creation for the sake of creation. Don’t concern yourself with logic or purpose. Just write. Just create. Revision comes later.

Creative play is intrinsically risky because, frankly, you might never use what you create. Yet it’s important because it trains your mind to know that risks are okay. It’s okay to think outside the box and devise ideas that defy the expected. The more you practice creative play, the more risks you’ll be willing to take. And, eventually, you’ll find risks that improve your stories.

If readers describe your writing as "hard to follow" or "out there" (and neither in a good way), maybe you’re actually taking too many risks. Maybe you’re going for future tense when past tense would be more accessible. Maybe you’re convoluting a plot just to add complexity when your story really needs a straightforward progression.

If that’s the case, take a lesson from cooking.

It’s risky to cook without a recipe. However, the results can be surprisingly tasty, and they’re undeniably you . But how do you get there? You start by learning the basics first.

The same is often true for writing. Most writers can’t write a coherent non-linear story until they’ve learned linear storytelling. Most writers can’t pull off risks unless they also know how to play it safe.

So, if you suspect your writing has become a little too risky, try simplifying things. Conventional stories can be just as satisfying as unusual ones, if done properly. Also, you’ll need to play it safe at least some of the time, or else readers won’t have familiar handholds to grasp.

Whether you’re in Vegas or not, risks are part of life. They can be part of your writing, too, if you allow them. And, when employed properly, they can enhance your work.

The One Thing You Shouldn’t Risk: Your Spelling and Grammar

Taking risks when you’re writing is freeing, but it also takes a lot of thought. You might be so caught up in your perspective or timeline that your grammar, spelling, and style starts to slip. With ProWritingAid, you can take risks with your ideas while knowing that the technical side of your writing is safe.

ProWritingAid not only offers you spelling, style and grammar suggestions while you write, but also allows you to check your pacing, readability, sentence variety, repeats, and more to help you ensure that you can engage your readers with your big ideas, not lose them.

Ready to take risks in your writing without risking your readers?

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Kyle A. Massa is the author of the short fiction collection Monsters at Dusk and and the novel Gerald Barkley Rocks. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. Learn more about Kyle and his work at his website, kyleamassa.com.

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Taking Risks Conception Essay

It is a well-known fact that taking risks can result in two things: success of failure. Some people say that taking risks brings to new very important findings, for example, in sports or science; others argue that taking risks can cause failure or even death, for example in finance or everyday life.

Some say that taking risks is inherent in people, and other people claim it contradicts instinct of self-preservation. To my mind, taking risks is a bit of all mentioned above, but there is no doubt that for each person taking risks is not the same.

I think that taking risks is an important and inevitable part of our lives; we all take risks, major or minor. I agree that if people want to succeed and achieve more they have to risk, at least, from time to time, or as Schwalbe puts it – to try something new (Schwalbe). I assume that all the athletes take risks to establish their records; they are likely to “40-30-30 Rule”, where 30 is the degree of the risk (Schwalbe).

This risk rule really works in sport and science, since all the experiments are a kind of risk; scientists take risks and get their results. To my mind, Schwalbe is right pointing out that the most of people regret on what they haven’t done rather on that they did. So in terms of getting rid of one’s regret a person needs to follow own instincts.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to admit that sometimes taking risk may cause very negative results; therefore it is necessary to be reasonable. I am impressed with the example provided by Ropeik about the woman who was afraid to fly because of terrorist (Dreifus). This woman decided to drive several states, and she died in a car crash.

In this case the woman should have think about the degree and possibility of risk in cars and planes. Regarding the fact that planes are the safest means of travelling, and the fact that possibility of terroristic act repeating wasn’t big, this woman should have gone by plane. This proves that there are some cases where thoughtful reasoning is needed.

Here I should stress that thoughtfulness is necessary in medicine where people’s lives are concerned. Doctors should carefully consider all the consequences and then make decisions. Doctors are not the only people who should be concerned about health; people should mind their health themselves. Every risk here should be thought over thousands of times to make no harm to oneself or somebody else.

At this point I would like to return to my statement that each person has his/her notion of risk. Someone may think that it is very risky to ride a bicycle, someone may be afraid to take a risk and visit another country or even unfamiliar place. I am sure that a person who goes in for extreme sports, may be very conservative in food and will never “take a risk” to taste some exotic dainty (here I don’t some religious or health restrictions, of course).

To my mind these humble risks can be taken, and there is something that can inspire people to take such kind a risk, this is an example of other person. For instance, in case with food, a person can see that other people taste that, so he/she can also try it; this person tries and, of course, starts trying to find those stupid reasons preventing from such pleasant experience. After this, I am sure, the person will continue taking such kind of risks.

As for me, I can’t say that I risk all the time. I can’t even provide any example of my big risk; I suppose my risks are still in future. I know that I am not afraid to take risk; at least I haven’t met some difficult situation when I was to risk.

Here I’d like to mention my friend, who is afraid of speaking. I can’t say she doesn’t talk at all, but she is not a public speaker, and she will never speak on something she is not sure about, and if she is asked something she doesn’t know thoroughly she just keeps mum. My friend is afraid of making mistake.

To my mind this is not right, for everyone knows if we don’t make mistakes will never learn. In this connection I would like to cite Carrol admitting that “failure is a good thing” (Carroll). Though, I wouldn’t agree that “success is boring” (Carroll). I’d rather admit that people should try to improve even successful things. A good example of this is Carrol’s daughter who seeks for the further development (Carroll).

To my mind, taking risks is essential for the whole humanity. It is impossible to imagine where we could be now if our ancestors didn’t risk to tame fire. All these great and little risks lead people to new discoveries, new opportunities. I think people should take risks and start something new; they can’t just sit and talk about achievement of others, they should take a chance and risk, leaving one’s fear behind, without being afraid of failure, because failure will only show the right way to go and succeed.

Works Cited

Carroll, J. “Failure Is A Good Thing.” NPR. 2006.

Dreifus, C. “A Conversation With/David Ropeik; The Fear Factor Meets Its Match.” The New York Times . 2002.

Schwalbe, M. The 40-30-30 Rule: Why Risk Is Worth It . The 99 percent Web.

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When Taking Risks is Good for Teens

Teens take risks. Some will do drugs, drink to excess, shoplift, and worse—activities that studies show are associated with problems later in life, including depression and anxiety.

But risk-taking is part of growing up, too, helping teens to develop independence and identities—to start becoming adults. Risks help them to find out what they can do, and to gain insight into the meaning of their lives.

So, if risk-taking can be both bad and good, how can parents and other adults encourage positive risks, while discouraging more negative ones?

That’s the question at the heart of new studies by Eva Telzer, a neuroscientist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She’s been looking at how the brain responds to risk-taking and how that shapes depression in adolescents—with some surprising results.

Instead of finding a clear relationship between thrill-seeking and depression, as other scientists have found, Telzer’s research finds a much more complicated interaction. Her studies show that teens who find pleasure in giving to others may be protected from developing depression, even if they are attracted to risk-taking.

Positive and negative go hand in hand

Neuroscientists have long understood that the dopamine circuit in our brain lights up in response to enjoyable activities. If we like how something makes us feel, we are bound to end up repeating it, sometimes addictively. In particular, a part of this circuit called the ventral striatum has been implicated in negative risk-taking behaviors like addictions or thrill-seeking. During the teen years, this area of the brain is particularly sensitive , which may help to explain why teens tend to feel more pleasurable highs when engaging in these behaviors.

But Telzer’s research is helping to show that the ventral striatum lights up for other reasons, too, and therein lies the key to understanding negative and positive risks in the teen brain.

In one study , she and her colleagues measured neural activity in the brains of adolescents in response to different kinds of rewarding activities and then looked at how their levels of depressive symptoms changed in the course of a year. In the study, teens were given opportunities to donate money to family members and to keep money for themselves while being hooked up to an fMRI machine. Additionally, they were given a task where they had to make risky, uncertain decisions to gain monetary rewards for themselves, mimicking the kinds of decisions teens sometimes face in real life. Depression symptoms were measured prior to the experiment, and again one year later.

Analyses showed that adolescents whose ventral striatum lit up most when giving money to themselves or when taking a risk for a personal reward had the greatest risk of depression a year later, similar to what other studies have found with ventral striatum activation.

However, those kids whose ventral striatum lit up when choosing to give to their families did not have increased depression symptoms a year later; in fact, their symptoms went down over time.

To Telzer, these results were pretty encouraging—and somewhat counterintuitive.

“The most surprising thing to us was that this one region of the brain that has been pretty consistently linked to negative outcomes in adolescents can also be associated with positive outcomes,” she says. “In the much more positive context of prosocial behavior, this kind of activation was predictive of positive outcomes, like declines in depression.”

In addition, those who found pleasure in giving to others and in risk-taking still had their symptoms decrease. In other words, getting pleasure from risk-taking doesn’t necessarily lead to depression. Telzer believes that, by giving teens opportunities to engage in meaningful activities, we may be able to take advantage of their neural sensitivity in more positive ways while giving them a mental health boost.

“The heightened reward sensitivity in teens has been mostly studied in a negative context,” she says. “If we can find the types of contexts where this is adaptive rather than negative—like prosocial behavior, academic engagement, or different types of hobbies—they’re going to find pleasure from that behavior and it’s going to be protective against things like depression.”

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Telzer doesn’t think that the quality of the parental relationship affected her results in this study, even though the intervention involved helping out family members. Although having positive family relationships may increase the amount of positive feelings one gets from helping one’s family—indeed, another study of hers confirms this impact—it doesn’t change the effect of giving on decreasing depression.

“Even when we controlled for how close and supportive your family was, we still see this really strong link,” she says. “So, there’s something beyond feeling close to your family involved here.”

Though we might be tempted to interpret her results as proof that we should assign prosocial activities to teens, Telzer does not. Yes, some kids may feel good about giving, and that’s protective, she says; but they can’t necessarily control the way their brains respond.

“I don’t think we should push teens to add prosocial activities to their lives, because teens who show the least amount of ventral striatum activity during the prosocial task are actually showing increases in depression,” she says.

Instead, she believes that her work suggests that we steer teens toward what they find meaningful—which may involve helping out family, but could also include academic work, after-school activities, leadership opportunities, or artistic endeavors.

She points to the work of Reed Larson , who studies teen leadership roles and mentoring in after-school programs, and others who look at positive peer influences or the role of family ties on teen behavior. All of these hold promise for helping teens stay away from negative risk-taking.

“I’m personally excited and hope other researchers as well will start to test more the context in which reward sensitivity can be positive and negative,” she says. “We need to create the context where teens can explore their world and engage in risky behavior that won’t put them at risk for getting hurt or for death. Then risk-taking can be helpful.”

About the Author

Jill Suttie

Jill Suttie, Psy.D. , is Greater Good ’s former book review editor and now serves as a staff writer and contributing editor for the magazine. She received her doctorate of psychology from the University of San Francisco in 1998 and was a psychologist in private practice before coming to Greater Good .

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Is Risk-Taking Behavior Key to Entrepreneurial Spirit?

Back in 2004, when Mark Zuckerberg was still creating the beginnings of the now-behemoth Facebook, PayPal co-founder and Facebook investor Peter Thiel told Zuckerberg a piece of advice that will always stay with him:

“In a world that’s changing so quickly, the biggest risk you can take is not taking any risk.”

If you want to start your own business, you need to be comfortable with taking risks. While two-thirds of businesses with employees survive at least 2 years, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration , only half survive at least 5 years. The act of opening a business itself is a risk.

However, without taking a risk, there’s rarely a reward. Entrepreneur coach and growth marketing agency founder Sujan Patel reveals some key aspects to the entrepreneurial spirit that align with risk-taking behavior. According to Patel, entrepreneurs must:

• Look at decisions from a reward-perspective, not from a risk-perspective
• Think outside the box to create solutions
• View challenges optimistically: as opportunities, not problems
• Set goals and have a vision for what they want to accomplish

Importantly, Patel writes, entrepreneurs must be willing to take calculated risks for their business. Here’s why risk-taking is so important to succeed in business as an entrepreneur.

What Are the Characteristics of an Entrepreneur?

At a Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference , some of the world’s most notable business founders shared the characteristics they believe define entrepreneurs.

• Entrepreneurs are outsiders , according to Vault.com founder Sam Hamadeh. Entrepreneurs don’t feel the need to conform to a corporate world or to resign themselves to “secure” jobs.
• Entrepreneurs solve problems, shared Farhad Mohit, founder of Shopzilla. They look at opportunities to eliminate pain points when they’re creating their business models.
• Entrepreneurs are optimistic , according to Vonage chief executive Jeff Citron. They see an abundance of ways to make a positive difference with a new product, service or idea. They go to market quickly and work out the kinks along the way.

Starting your own business, putting in the time and effort to create something new, and releasing your idea to consumers all require risk. Entrepreneurs encounter risk with every business decision, but they’re decisive so that they don’t miss out on opportunities that can propel their businesses forward.

Why Do Entrepreneurs Take Risks?

A review of literature since the year 2000 on the personality traits of entrepreneurs confirms the prominence of risk-taking. There’s rarely a guaranteed outcome in business. Entrepreneurs are comfortable with uncertainty. Risk aversion is a predictor of whether an individual will become an entrepreneur (low-risk aversion) or stay an employee (high-risk aversion.)

Entrepreneurs take risks because they’re necessary to start and grow a business. Some of the risks an entrepreneur might face include:

• Leaving a full-time job and steady paycheck
• Using personal savings with no guarantee of a return on investment
• Misjudging interest in a product or service
• Putting trust in coworkers
• Giving away time, energy, sleep, the ability to enjoy personal interests, etc.

Many entrepreneurs dedicate the majority of their waking hours, at least in the initial phase, to their business. Entrepreneurs may make myriad personal sacrifices to get a business off the ground.

Once the business is running, an entrepreneur continues to make calculated risks to grow a business. Risks can be classified as:

• Competitive risk: losing business to similar service or product providers
• Credibility risk: getting consumers to trust and be interested in a product or service with no brand recognition
• Financial risk: having the cash flow needed to stay in operations
• Market risk: knowing whether or not a product or service is what the market demands
• Technology risk: facing business operations interruptions due to technology failure, or choosing a technology that is not the best for the business

There are many ways to mitigate these risks and make them more likely to turn into rewards. Research, marketing, planning, testing and reporting are a few strategies entrepreneurs use when taking calculated risks.

Benefits of Taking Risks as an Entrepreneur

Ask most successful entrepreneurs, and they’ll tell you their business success was influenced by taking a risk at some point. Taking risks is the way to create opportunity and progress. When an entrepreneur takes certain risks the competition is not willing to take, they can become leaders in their field.

Risk-taking shows a team that the entrepreneur is a true business visionary and leader who believes in the potential reward on the other side. Risk-taking enables and encourages innovation, which can be an important product/service differentiator.

Failed risks aren’t always negative. Sometimes, they provide the most valuable business lessons an entrepreneur can learn. Failure helps shape future business strategies and can eventually lead to business growth.

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Are You Interested in Becoming an Entrepreneur?

If entrepreneurial spirit qualities like risk-taking resonate with you, perhaps it’s time to consider starting your own venture. Wharton’s Entrepreneurship Specialization gives entrepreneurs the knowledge they need to be successful when starting a business. The program includes courses on data analytics, finance, idea-generation, market research and business models. Request information on the Entrepreneurship Specialization.

The Wharton School is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and is authorized to issue the IACET CEU.

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How Taking Risks Can Lead You to a Better Life

Taking risks doesn’t mean succeeding every time, and that’s ok taking risks can lead to failure which in turn can help you grow as a person..

(zhukovvvlad / Shutterstock.com)

Many of life’s greatest achievements require going outside of your comfort zone. Whether it means overcoming shyness to perform onstage, investing money to help your business grow, or putting yourself out there for the chance to find love, some of life’s most rewarding experiences come as a result of taking risks. However, many of us have a difficult time dealing with the uncertainty that goes along with taking risks. A feeling of unease grows out of not knowing the outcome and the fear of potential failure. What if I embarrass myself in front of everyone? What if I lose all the money that I invested? What if I open my heart and get rejected? What if I’m not good enough? Answer that with another “what if”: what if the point of taking risks isn’t the outcome, but the process in and of itself. Through taking risks, we must confront our own fears, and sometimes that leads to failure… But what if that wasn’t such a bad thing after all?

The Key to Succeed? Learn to Fail

“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” — Stephen McCranie Many may have a negative view of failure, but actually, it can provide an essential tool for building character. Failure makes us stronger and more resilient. People who fail repeatedly develop persistence in the face of difficulties. Look at the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who lost eight elections, failed twice in business, and suffered a nervous breakdown all before becoming one of the greatest American presidents. Through failure, he developed the persistence necessary to later lead his country through one of its hardest periods in history. Perhaps he never could have done so without experiencing so many failures himself. What does that tell us? Taking risks doesn’t mean succeeding every time, and that’s ok! The process of taking risks may lead to failure, but even that can make us a better person by increasing the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.

(kenary820 / Shutterstock.com)

The One Thing Risk-Takers Have in Common? Overconfidence

Failure might turn us into better people, but that doesn’t make it any less difficult to take risks. It turns out that building confidence can help in overcoming the fear of risk-taking. Entrepreneurs must go up against tremendous odds to build a successful business. That means taking big risks without knowing the outcome. What makes them do this? Confidence, and a lot of it. In a study , Ohio State University management professor Jay Barney, Ph.D., and Lowell Busenitz, Ph.D., of the University of Houston, asked 124 successful entrepreneurs and 95 top managers to answer a round of questions and rate how sure they felt about their responses. While both groups demonstrated confidence, the results proved that the entrepreneurs had an exceptionally high level of confidence.

(oneinchpunch / Shutterstock.com)

Learn to Overcome Your Fears

Luckily, confidence is a learnable skill. Erika Casriel describes in her book , Living Fully with Shyness and Social Anxiety, "The reality is that most socially confident people deliberately learn specific skills." That means, through practice, we can develop better confidence, equipping us with the right skills to take risks. Even someone as seemingly outgoing as comedian Will Ferrell once considered himself painfully shy and claims he had to work very hard to overcome his lack of confidence. To do so, he would do idiotic things in public so that people would laugh at him. He told People Magazine,” In college, I would push an overhead projector across campus with my pants just low enough to show my butt. Then my friend would incite the crowd to be like, 'Look at that idiot!' That's how I got over being shy." What does this tell us about taking risks? When we feel shy or afraid of something, we can take action to build more confidence. Instead of accepting himself as a shy person, Ferrell had the courage to overcome his fears by facing them. In doing so, he felt more confident outside of his comfort zone.

(PPstock / Shutterstock.com)

The Cycle of Success

The takeaway? Taking a risk to achieve a goal requires courage to face the fear of uncertainty. No matter the outcome, either way, we grow through the process and become more resilient and confident. Better yet, building those skills helps in taking more risks and improves the chances of achieving future goals.

(fizkes / Shutterstock.com)

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• Band 9 IELTS Essays

It Is Important For People To Take Risk In Both In Their Professional Life And Their Personal Life

by Manjusha Nambiar · Published September 29, 2022 · Updated April 16, 2024

Need help with IELTS writing? Get your essays, letters and reports corrected by me .

Band 9 essay sample

Taking risks often allows people to achieve stupendous success. Of course, there is also a possibility that risk takers can lose a lot more than they can afford. Even so, in my opinion, the benefits of taking risks outweigh the drawbacks provided that people weigh the pros and cons carefully before taking the plunge.

Not taking risks certainly allows us to live in our comfort zones. However, it limits our growth. People who do not take any risks will have to be content with what they have. While there is no harm in choosing this approach towards life, in my opinion, each person should strive to make the most of the opportunities available to them. Risk aversion, unfortunately, prevents them from achieving their full potential and in most cases is the recipe for a mediocre life.

On the other hand, taking risks has lots of benefits. In most cases, our risk appetite allows us to achieve a lot more than we hope for. For example, investing in stock market allows people to get much higher returns on their investment. Many rich people in the world made their millions by investing in stocks. Billionaire Warren Buffet is an example of them. He hailed from a poor background and owes much of his success to his risk appetite.

Of course, people who take risks also have a higher chance of losing all that they have. Hence, in my opinion, all risks should be calculated. People should carefully weigh in the pros and cons before taking a risk. They also need to know their threshold. For example, one should never invest all the money they have in stocks. While it is true that stocks offer much higher return on investment, there is also a good chance of losing even the initial capital. Hence, they need to invest in less performing but safer assets as well. By limiting their exposure to risks, they reduce their risk of failure. In the same way, people who quit their job to start business should already have a plan B in place in case their venture fails. Before starting up, they need to secure their family by saving enough for their future. In this case, even if the business fails, they will not end up on the street.

To sum up, calculated risks enable people to achieve tremendous success in all aspects of their life. Risk aversion, on the other hand, makes their life and success less spectacular. Hence, in my opinion, there are more merits than demerits to taking risks.

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Manjusha Nambiar

Hi, I'm Manjusha. This is my blog where I give IELTS preparation tips.

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Essay on Taking Risks In Life

Students are often asked to write an essay on Taking Risks In Life in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Taking Risks In Life

What is risk-taking.

Risk-taking is a part of life. It involves doing something that is uncertain or has a chance of leading to a negative outcome. Taking risks can be scary, but it can also lead to great rewards.

Why Take Risks?

There are many reasons why people take risks. Sometimes, we take risks to achieve something that we want, such as a new job or a better education. Other times, we take risks to avoid something that we don’t want, such as a bad grade or a broken relationship.

Benefits of Risk-Taking

Taking risks can have many benefits. It can help us to learn new things, grow as people, and achieve our goals. Taking risks can also make life more exciting and adventurous.

Risks of Risk-Taking

Of course, taking risks also has some risks. We might not achieve what we want, or we might even experience negative consequences. However, the potential rewards of risk-taking often outweigh the risks.

How to Take Risks Safely

If you’re thinking about taking a risk, there are a few things you can do to make sure you do it as safely as possible. First, you should learn as much as you can about the risk you’re taking. Second, you should make a plan for how you’re going to deal with any negative outcomes. Finally, you should take small steps and gradually increase the level of risk you’re taking.

250 Words Essay on Taking Risks In Life

Taking risks in life.

Taking risks is a part of life. There are few things worth doing that don’t involve some risk. Also, the bigger the risk, the bigger the potential reward. It’s important to weigh the pros and cons of any risk before you take it. As there are times when it’s better to play it safe.

Calculated Risks vs Uncalculated Risks

Risk can be calculated or uncalculated. Calculated risks are those where you take the time to assess the situation and make an informed decision. Uncalculated risks are those where you jump in without thinking. In general, it is wise to take calculated risks rather than uncalculated risks. Of course, there are some cases where it is necessary to take uncalculated risks, but these should be the exception rather than the rule.

Always Have a Backup Plan

You should always have a backup plan in place before you take a risk. This means having a plan for what you will do if things don’t go as planned. Having a backup plan will help you to feel more confident about taking risks, knowing that you have a safety net to fall back on.

Learn from Your Mistakes

It is important to learn from your mistakes when you take risks. This means taking the time to reflect on what went wrong and how you can avoid making the same mistake in the future. Learning from your mistakes will help you to become a more effective risk-taker.

Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

Taking risks means that you are going to fail sometimes. This is a natural part of the process. Don’t be afraid to fail. Instead, learn from your failures and move on.

Taking risks is an important part of life. It can lead to great rewards, but it also carries the potential for failure. By weighing the pros and cons of any risk before you take it, having a backup plan in place, learning from your mistakes, and not being afraid to fail, you can increase your chances of success.

500 Words Essay on Taking Risks In Life

Why should you take risks in life.

Taking risks is a part of life. It involves stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying something new. While it can be scary, taking calculated risks can lead to big rewards, such as personal growth, new experiences, and increased self-confidence. It can also help you to overcome your fears and develop resilience.

How to Take Calculated Risks

Taking risks doesn’t mean making impulsive decisions or acting recklessly. Instead, it means carefully weighing the potential pros and cons of a situation and making an informed decision about whether or not to take the risk. Here are a few tips for taking calculated risks:

• Start small: Don’t try to take a huge risk all at once. Start by taking small, manageable risks that you’re more likely to succeed at. As you gain confidence, you can gradually increase the size of the risks you take.
• Be informed: Before you take a risk, make sure you have all the information you need to make a sound decision. This means doing your research and talking to people who have experience in the area you’re considering.
• Trust your gut: Sometimes, you just have to trust your gut instinct and go for it. If something feels right, even if it’s a little bit scary, it’s probably worth taking the risk.

Benefits of Taking Risks

Taking risks can have a number of benefits, including:

• Personal growth: When you take risks, you learn and grow as a person. You develop new skills, overcome challenges, and build confidence.
• New experiences: Taking risks can lead to new and exciting experiences. You might travel to new places, meet new people, or try new things.
• Increased self-confidence: When you successfully take a risk, you feel a sense of accomplishment. This can boost your self-confidence and make you more likely to take risks in the future.
• Resilience: Taking risks can help you to develop resilience. When you face challenges and setbacks, you learn how to bounce back and keep going.

Taking risks is a part of life. It can be scary, but it’s also essential for personal growth and success. By taking calculated risks, you can open yourself up to new experiences, learn and grow as a person, and build confidence. So don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and take a risk every now and then.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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The impact of life experiences on risk taking

Peter ayton.

a City, University of London, Dept. of Psychology, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, United Kingdom

Gennaro Bernile

b University of Miami, Herbert Business School, 5250 University Dr, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA

Alessandro Bucciol

c University of Verona, Dept. of Economics, Via Cantarane 24, 37129 Verona, Italy

1. Introduction

Risk taking is a ubiquitous but, at the same time, controversial phenomenon in human life. In the popular mind – as The Economist noted some years ago 1 – it is associated with gamblers, skydivers, and bankers. At the same time, it is hardly deniable that risk-taking behavior plays a key role, e.g., in generating business success or failure, the amount and nature of innovation, and economic growth. The willingness to take risks affects important economic and non-economic decisions, including migration, occupational sorting, health-related behaviors, and educational choices ( Hetschko & Preuss, 2020 ), as well as being associated with the probability of being self-employed and of investing in stocks and even whole countries’ total factor productivity ( Dohmen et al., 2011 , Falk et al., 2018 , Schildberg-Horisch, 2018 ).

Research on the theme has convincingly shown that risk-taking behavior differs greatly across individuals, across countries, across domains, and over time ( Dohmen et al., 2011 , Falk et al., 2018 , Fisher and Yao, 2017 , Mata et al., 2016 ), so that understanding its determinants is one of the key challenges for current research in Economic Psychology. Age, gender, and cognitive ability turn out to be significantly associated with risk preferences in various studies, including the recent paper by Falk et al. (2018) providing global evidence on economic preferences. While we know from twin studies that a sizeable part of variation in risk taking is genetically determined ( Cesarini, Johannesson, Lichtenstein, Sandewall, & Wallace, 2010 ), an extensive and burgeoning body of research reveals that factors associated with the social environment play an extremely important role. Recent work interestingly documents that even gender differences in risk taking are malleable as they have a strong environmental component ( Liu & Zuo, 2019 ).

Whereas traditional life-cycle models in economics assume that risk preferences are time invariant, a growing body of empirical research challenges this view by showing that risk taking by the same individuals varies substantially over their life-cycle ( Defoe et al., 2015 , Mata et al., 2011 , Mata et al., 2016 ) as well as in response to major shocks ( Banks et al., 2020 , Guiso et al., 2018 , Schildberg-Horisch, 2018 ).

In the last years, a recent but fast-growing stream of research has been focusing on the effects of life experiences on risk-taking behavior, by using a variety of empirical methods. Natural disasters, wars, bereavements, recessions, and other events that become part of individual histories of those who experience them, have been shown to be associated with variation in risk taking across individuals, even several decades after their occurrence ( Bernile et al., 2017 , Bucciol and Zarri, 2015 , Guiso et al., 2018 , Malmendier and Nagel, 2011 ). This special issue includes six contributions that help to shed light on the underlying economic and psychological channels explaining the connection between life experiences and risk taking. The next section summarizes these contributions; the introduction concludes presenting avenues for future research.

2. Contributions

Two of the six contributions in this special issue ( Abatayo and Lynham, 2020 , Dalton et al., 2020 ) involved workers living in developing countries. Dalton et al. (2020) conducted a lab-in-the-field experiment with owners of small retail businesses in Vietnam and, by means of the priming methodology, estimate the causal impact of exposure to scenarios that trigger financial worries on risk taking. While, as the authors note, prior work has shown that material deprivation can affect various aspects of the decision-making process, the specific psychological channels through which major negative income shocks impact risk taking remain unclear. Their lab-in-the-field experiment run with entrepreneurs in a developing country provides evidence that is consistent with previous results from lab experiments, shedding light on the role of financial worries in mediating the effect of material deprivation on risk taking. In particular, their findings indicate that, in line with recent lab-based work on risk taking under stress, small-scale entrepreneurs exogenously exposed to financial worries report higher levels of stress and are less risk averse than those assigned to a placebo treatment. The documented effect is stronger for smaller shops and for entrepreneurs who are less exposed to large income shocks in their everyday business. Abatayo and Lynham (2020) conducted an artefactual field experiment with fishers on a remote island in the Philippines and examine the impact of Typhoon Bopha on individual preferences. The typhoon destroyed coral reefs and reduced populations of fish, weakening food security. Comparing individuals from communities that were directly hit by the typhoon with those that were not, they show that those affected by the typhoon are less risk averse . Next, they provide clear evidence that females affected by the typhoon are more risk-loving than females unaffected by the typhoon.

The other four papers exploit longitudinal household survey data from European countries. Two studies rely on the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), representative of the German population, which provides a behaviorally validated self-assessed measure of risk attitude ( Görlitz and Tamm, 2020 , Hetschko and Preuss, 2020 ). The paper by Hetschko and Preuss (2020) shows that risk aversion increases after passing through a relevant personal experience such as losing work. Relying on data that, unlike prior studies, include exogenously triggered job losses due to plant closure, the authors investigate the causal link between job loss and willingness to take risks and shed light on the mechanisms driving this relationship. Their results suggest that while neither immediate income loss nor other non-monetary mechanisms (such as changes of emotional states or parallel life events) seem to mediate the detected effect, risk aversion turns out to be sensitive to lower future income expectations (also on the eve of job loss) and higher uncertainty about future incomes. Next, the paper documents that individuals gradually return to their initial level of risk aversion, as they regain employment stability. In their work, Görlitz and Tamm (2020) examine how risk attitudes change when individuals experience the major life event of becoming a parent. They find that risk aversion significantly increases for both mothers and fathers around the time of first childbirth. This increase already starts manifesting itself as early as two years before they become parents, it is largest shortly after childbirth and disappears after several years. The study also documents that risky labor market behavior remains unaffected by parenthood, suggesting that the detected changes in risk attitudes do not spill over to less risky behavior of parents.

The remaining two papers ( Banks et al., 2020 , Bellucci et al., 2020 ) use data from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE), which is representative of the population aged 50 and over in several European countries. In both cases, the focus is on financial risk attitude. The study by Banks et al. (2020) shows that considering major life events is important with regard to an independently relevant research question such as the relationship between risk attitude and ageing. Prior research detected a clear pattern over the life cycle, showing that older individuals are less willing to take risks in different domains ( Dohmen et al., 2011 , Falk et al., 2018 , Mata et al., 2016 ). The authors offer evidence that in all countries older individuals report lower willingness to take financial risks and that health changes and other life events (such as retirement, widowhood and marital change) play a key role in accounting for the relationship between risk attitude and age in the financial domain. Therefore, as the authors note in their conclusions, their findings regarding the interplays between ageing, risk taking and health shocks have relevant policy implications: since the increase in life expectancy we observe in developed countries occurs together with a greater incidence of health problems, policy makers should pay attention to the fact that average risk aversion is likely to increase among influential segments of the population and that, in turn, this will likely increase pressure towards policies aimed at providing new and stronger forms of social protection. Based on the same data merged with data on conflict events, the study by Bellucci et al. (2020) offers evidence that exposure to World War 2 during childhood is negatively associated with financial risk taking, measured as the holding of risky financial assets, and positively linked to the probability of having life insurance in later life. The authors show that high and low intensity of war exposure have comparable long-term effects. The paper also indicates that living through the experience of war in childhood increases sensitivity to financial uncertainty. Enhanced uncertainty appears to be the most likely mechanism underlying the association between war exposure and financial risk taking.

3. Concluding remarks

The six papers included in this special issue consider a variety of risk taking domains (general or financial), types of life event (exposure to natural disasters or world war, financial hardship, health shocks or changes in family size) and target population (individuals from representative samples in developed countries or specific types of workers in developing ones). From a technical point of view, the six papers show a variety of data types (from experiments or surveys) and elicitation mechanisms of risk taking (incentive-based, self-assessed, or revealed from observed behavior). The heterogeneity in the methodology we observe in this issue originates from the relative novelty of the research field connecting risk taking and life events, as well as the well-known evidence that risk taking changes by domain, country, and other characteristics (e.g., Dohmen et al., 2011 , Falk et al., 2018 ). In line with prior related work, although there is general evidence of relevant connections between risk taking and life events, the direction of this relationship changes depending on the specific analysis. In particular, the papers included in this special issue indicate that, in the developing countries under study, risk taking increases with negative income shocks ( Dalton et al., 2020 ) and natural disasters with severe economic consequences ( Abatayo & Lynham, 2020 ), whereas, in the developed countries considered by the remaining four studies, it falls with unemployment spells ( Hetschko & Preuss, 2020 ), exposure to war ( Bellucci et al., 2020 ), parenthood ( Görlitz & Tamm, 2020 ), and health shocks ( Banks et al., 2020 ). The works examining the long-term effect of life events ( Görlitz and Tamm, 2020 , Hetschko and Preuss, 2020 ) suggest that changes in risk taking are not permanent, and they disappear as uncertainty vanishes or individuals adapt themselves to the new scenario. However, life events occurred during childhood may still have consequences throughout the lifespan ( Bellucci et al., 2020 ).

We believe that this special issue of the Journal of Economic Psychology provides us with novel and relevant insights on the impact of life experiences on risk taking, that stimulate new relevant research questions. In future research on the theme, it will be key to accurately identify the mechanisms that drive changes in risk taking resulting from life experiences. In line with recent work, the papers published in this issue show that the effects of negative shocks can change risk taking in different directions, but presently our ability to predict which effects should be anticipated under particular circumstances is limited. Even when experience shifts risk taking in one direction, a number of candidate mechanisms can be identified. For example, some increases in risky behavior as a result of negative shocks may reflect people trying to recover losses (as suggested by Abatayo & Lynham, 2020 ) – just as gamblers vary their risk taking in the immediate wake of wins and losses (e.g. Xu & Harvey, 2014 ). However, information about others’ experienced losses can also increase risk taking in the absence of any personal losses ( Newell, Rakow, Yechiam, & Sambur, 2016 ). Some mechanisms may explain what are otherwise counterintuitive effects – for example work on reactions to the effects of positive shocks in lottery winners has shown that those who win more on the lottery smoke more and engage in more social drinking ( Apouey & Clark, 2015 ), but this increase in indubitably risky behaviors is plausibly due to relaxed liquidity constraints rather than a change in risk attitudes per se.

One promising avenue of psychological research is work on decisions from experience . While many psychological studies of human decisions have relied on the convenient method of describing risky situations, studies on decisions from experience indicate that learning about risks through direct experience of choice outcomes in particular environments prompts quite different decisions to those arising from learning about the same findings from description ( Barron & Erev, 2003 ). Kahneman and Tversky (1979) noted that, when making description-based decisions, people behave ‘as if’ they over weight small probabilities; however, with decisions based on experience, rare events tend to have less impact than their objective likelihood of occurrence would warrant ( Hertwig, Barron, Weber, & Erev, 2004 ). A number of psychological mechanisms have been identified to account for this ( Hertwig & Erev, 2009 ) which a recent meta-analytic review has summarized evidence for – the largest of which was reliance on small samples of experience and the associated sampling error ( Wulff, Mergenthaler-Canseco, & Hertwig, 2018 ). For improbable events, the chances are that most people mostly experience their non-occurrence, thereby generating less concern than these risks deserve ( Newell et al., 2016 ). Nonetheless the difference between decisions from description and experience persists when sampling error is basically eliminated (e.g. Barron and Ursino, 2013 , Camilleri and Newell, 2011 ) indicating other determinants. Di Guida, Erev, and Marchiori (2015) have shown that, although decisions from experience result in underweighting of rare events across cultures, the impact of limiting feedback to outcomes resulting from chosen (and not foregone) options has predictable culturally specific influence on risk aversion: with this experience east Asians exhibit less risk aversion than people from western culture. At the time of writing decisions from experience research, implying that innocuous experience during the COVID-19 pandemic will lower risk perceptions thereby increasing risky behaviours to the detriment of all, has entered public discourse. 2 There is also widespread concern and speculation about the psychological and economic impacts of the “lockdown” adopted in many countries in response to the pandemic.

Experiences vary in an enormous number of ways – not just in terms of their valence and intensity – but qualitatively in ways that may alter how people think and feel about their future. For example, the choice to purchase a convertible or a four-wheel-drive is apparently highly dependent on the weather at the time of purchase in a way that is inconsistent with classical utility theory ( Busse, Pope, Pope, & Silva-Risso, 2015 ). Psychological ideas about human cognition and emotion – including such things as the characteristic constraints of the human imagination – as well as an appreciation of the sometimes subtle and often complex influence of economic factors, will both be needed to fully analyze the impact of life experiences on risk taking.

1 “Risk Off. Why Some People Are More Cautious with their Finances than Others”, The Economist, Jan 25th, 2014.

2 “Complacency, Not Panic, Is The Real Danger”, The New York Times, Mar 19th, 2020.

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The Benefits of Risk-Taking in the Classroom

Oprah Winfrey, Mark Cuban, and Vera Wang all built their careers on taking risks, and while they found fortune, the benefits of risk-taking far exceed the possibility of wealth. Risk-taking empowers people, increases self-esteem, and builds resilience to failure. Teaching risk-taking in the classroom helps students grow both academically and personally.

What Risk-Taking Looks Like in the Classroom

Risk-taking involves putting oneself in the position of potentially losing something to achieve a goal. Classroom risk-taking can take many forms, such as reaching out to new friends, trying a new method of note taking, or stepping up to a leadership position in a group project.

Teachers can incorporate risk-taking into the curriculum to create a culture where students feel safe. Doing so encourages students to experiment and persevere if they fail, according to Everfi. Teachers can implement risk-taking in the classroom in small ways, known as micro-risks.

Peer-Based Learning

One way to implement risk-taking in the classroom is to create a peer-based learning environment. This model begins with students brainstorming ideas individually. They then share their ideas with one other peer before finally presenting them to the whole class.

This method allows students to start with a small risk—presenting a new idea to just one person—and then, after receiving feedback and validation, they will feel more confident in sharing with the whole class, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education . Teachers can promote this practice by encouraging students to challenge the status quo or to create new solutions to existing problems.

Student Blogging

Teachers can also encourage risk-taking through writing by having each student start a blog. Blogging allows students to express themselves to a broader audience. They can take risks on their own terms, deciding how open and vulnerable they want to be. Teachers can assist by giving writing prompts that encourage them to take writing risks. For example, they could ask students to create a story about an impactful moment in their lives and publish it. To mitigate the risk of exposing too much personal information on the internet, students could post anonymously or within a classroom blog that only their peers can read.

Sketching Notes

Teachers can allow students to experiment with their note taking, finding a solution that works best for them. Teacher and blogger John Spencer recommends sketching notes as a creative outlet for processing material. This practice may not work in all class scenarios, but teachers can ensure at least part of a lesson is conducive to this form of creativity, which could improve students’ retention. For example, during a history lesson, teachers might have students draw an event, including important details and labeling key figures. Experimenting with a new note-taking method may increase understanding of a subject and result in better academic outcomes.

Benefits of Risk-Taking for Educators and Students

Allowing students to take risks not only helps them academically but also better equips them to succeed later in their lives. The benefits of risk-taking also extend to educators.

Benefits for Students

When taking a risk results in a successful outcome, students see an increase in their self-esteem, according to Educational Endeavors. If teachers cultivate a supportive environment, even when risk-taking fails, learning that the consequences of failure are manageable can make students more resilient.

Risk-taking can also lead to learning new skills. Being encouraged to take a risk in class allows students to try something different; while they may find that they don’t enjoy a new task, they may also emerge with a new passion.

Other benefits of risk-taking can include empowering students to make life choices, making new friends, and learning how to fail and grow from failure.

Benefits for Educators

When educators encourage their students to take risks, they are also taking risks themselves, which can lead to better classroom environments. Taking risks helps educators face their own fears and create innovative solutions in their classrooms, according to EdSurge. One example is a flipped classroom, where students watch lectures on a new subject before class and then complete assignments in class with one-on-one teacher attention. In this scenario, the educator takes a risk with innovation, with the potential of improved student outcomes and more personalized attention for each student, but it requires a willingness to break with the familiar approach to teaching.

Taking a risk can also allow educators to reignite their passion for teaching, build their own confidence, and serve as an example for their classes, potentially showing what failure looks like and how to learn from it.

Importance of Modeling Risk-Taking

By modeling risk-taking, teachers can inspire students and give them confidence. Teachers can model risk-taking by acknowledging their own shortcomings. For example, if they make a mistake in class, teachers can point it out and describe to the class how they plan to rectify the situation.

Social learning theory states that children learn from the people around them, according to Modern Teaching Blog. The first step toward making students comfortable with risk-taking is allowing them to see their teachers take risks. To model risk, teachers can do the following, according to teacher and blogger John Spencer:

• Apologize for mistakes, admitting faults
• Ask students to evaluate their teaching
• Share the personal risks they are taking outside of school
• Discuss some of their previous failures and how they learned from them

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What Is Systems Thinking in Education? Understanding Functions and Interactions in School Systems

Traditional vs. Progressive Education: Benefits and Challenges

How Important Is Technology in Education? Benefits, Challenges, and Impact on Students

The Chronicle of Higher Education , “How to Hold a Better Class Discussion”

EdSurge, “Why Taking Risks in the Classroom Pays off for Students—and Teachers”

Educational Endeavors, “Why It’s Important to Take Risks”

Everfi, “Encouraging Risk Taking in the Classroom”

John Spencer, “10 Creative Risks to Take With Students This Year”

Modern Teaching Blog, “Increasing Risk Taking in the Classroom”

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Ielts essay # 1276 - it is important for people to take risks in professional and personal lives, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, it is important for people to take risks, both in their professional lives and their personal lives. , do you think the advantages of taking risks outweigh the disadvantages.

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The Pros and Cons of Taking Risks

Taking risks is essential to living life to the fullest, but sometimes our risks can cause us severe consequences. How can the savvy, bold consumer manage risk and reward?

Whether you are trying to improve your business savvy or make travel and leisure plans, here are some ways being a risk-taker can bring you high or swing you back down low. From increased chances of adventure to higher chances of injury and high-risk insurance premiums, how can taking risks help and hinder your lifestyle?

The Pros of a Risk-Taking Lifestyle

There are several potential advantages to living unafraid and being willing to take risks. Let’s take a look at some of the pros of risks. 

Taking Risks Increase Your Chances of Adventure

It can feel risky to go to an unfamiliar place or to enjoy a frightening new experience, whether that is simply going to a haunted house or hitchhiking abroad. Sometimes, even minor risks such as forgoing scheduled vacation plans and playing your trip by ear can have a massive payoff down the line.

Sometimes people think that risk-taking has to be extreme, but think about all the things such as comfort, familiarity, and certainty that you may be hesitant to risk, especially when on vacation.

For someone, a road trip can feel risky if they’ve never driven far before or if they are unsure of whether they can find enough fun things to do. For another, flying to a country where they don’t speak the language can feel risky. 

Either way, taking these kinds of risks can increase your chances of having an unforgettable experience.

Taking Risks Can Help You Meet People

Staying within familiar boundaries and doing familiar things will mean you always remain with a familiar crowd. If you really want to expand your circle of friends and meet new people, you have to be willing to walk off the beaten path.

Put yourself in situations where you may feel awkward. Volunteer, meet people from different cultures and language backgrounds, take on odd jobs, and sacrifice a bit of pride. These sorts of choices will positively affect and affect your ability to meet new people.

Taking risks also helps you meet other adventurous people. If you want to know folks who are willing to do fun things on the spur of the moment or take a risk on you in business or relationships, you’ll need to find out where those kinds of people congregate.

Taking Risks Help You Be Creative

Nothing is more boring — or safer — than the tried-and-true path. Doing what other people do when traveling will let you enjoy the classic, beaten path and tourist-approved sites. Following the route others take in entrepreneurship or personal relationships will make you a steady, if forgettable, business or romantic partner.

Risks, however, take you out of your comfort zone and force you to be creative. When taking risks, you have to come up with new ideas and grab new opportunities.

Because of this, risk-taking lets you make unexpected connections by putting you in unexpected scenarios. You often don’t realize how good two unrelated things can be until you’re in a position to combine them.

When taking risks, you have to be able to think on your feet. Creative people can’t just stay still, metaphorically speaking.

The Cons of a Risk-Taking Lifestyle

Just as there can be benefits to taking risks in various ways, there are also cons. Living riskily can negatively affect your life in a few different ways.

Taking Risks Can Cost You Financially

Whether it’s an unexpected injury, a car accident, or money paid out for exciting venues, risk-taking can harm you not just physically but financially. In business, while you want to take risks, sometimes too many risky investments can cost you so much that you can’t continue.

If your risk-taking behavior leads to an accident where you or someone else is harmed, you could be held liable for the injuries. This would not only take a bite out of your budget in the present but also likely increase your auto insurance premiums in the future.

Those who drink while driving, speed, or commit other traffic violations often need to get SR-22 insurance, which can be much more expensive than regular auto insurance. Don’t allow a desire for risk and fun to lead you to self-destructive behavior.

Unnecessary risk-taking can cost you financially in other ways, too. Sometimes people take a risk simply by avoiding budgeting or living within their means. Impulse purchases and splurges may seem exciting and adventurous, but over time they will gradually eat away at your finances and self-respect.

Taking Risks Can Put You In Danger

Going on road trips can be a great way to enjoy the sights and tastes of your journey without focusing solely on your destination, but they can also be risky for even the most adventurous. You may want to risk your sense of control and certainty while traveling so you can flexibly grab adventurous opportunities. However, you don’t want to forgo planning entirely.

Be prepared for emergencies while on the road or traveling or doing business. While road-tripping, for example, your desire for freedom and thrills shouldn’t lead to speeding, reckless driving, or a lack of attention paid to other drivers.

In business, taking risks is important as it can help your startup grow. But not having proper savings or precautions for economic downturns can lead to your company tanking the moment things turn out badly. Risk-taking should never lead to completely ignoring danger around you.

Taking Risks Can Ruin Relationships 

While taking risks can expand your social circle, you must keep your current loved ones in mind. While you might be a risk-taker, you need to respect the needs and wishes of others in your circle who may not be so bold.

Pressuring others to get outside their comfort zone can gradually wear down relationships, especially if you are not respecting boundaries.

Every relationship requires sacrifice and compromise, and sometimes that means cutting back on risk and agreeing to more stable plans and investments. Be willing to carve out time for yourself and for more adventurous fun, but also respect the needs and comfort of others.

In addition, risky behaviors such as gambling, drinking, and financial irresponsibility can devastate personal, romantic, and business relationships. Being a risk-taker doesn’t mean you should ignore the effects your actions have on others.

Sometimes, you may decide a little risk is worth the reward. If you are deciding to do something risky or travel to a dangerous place , be sure to calculate the risks into your planning and preparation.

Deborah Goldberg writes and researches for the auto insurance comparison site, AutoInsuranceEZ.com . She is passionate about consumer safety and health.

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It is important for people to take risks, in both their professional lives and personal lives. Do the advantages of taking these risks outweigh the disadvantages?

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Your opinion

Don’t put your opinion unless you are asked to give it.

If the question asks what you think, you MUST give your opinion to get a good score.

Don’t leave your opinion until the conclusion.

Here are examples of instructions that require you to give your opinion:

...do you agree or disagree? ...do you think...? ...your opinion...?

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Write about the following topic: Nowadays, in many families both parents need to have jobs. What are some of the problems associated with both parents working, and what are some of the possible solutions? Give reasons for your answers and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. You should write at least 250 words.

Some people think that too much attention and too many resources are given to the protection of wild animals and birds. do you agree or disagree, 7.some people believe educational qualifications always bring success. others think educational qualifications do not necessarily bring success. discuss both views and give your own opinion., some people think women should be given equal chances to work and excel in their careers. others believe that a women's role should be limited to taking care of the house and children. what opinion do you agree and why, modern children are suffering from the diseases that were once considered to be meant for adults only. obesity is a major disease prevalent among children. what are its causes and what solutions can be offered.