Week 389 (brendan@brendanbarca.com)

Here's your weekly dose of Fuel Your Mind Friday where I share business building ideas, lifestyle design hacks, and inspirational content to help you thrive in your work and find purpose in your life.

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THE REVERSE RISK ASSESSMENT

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"That sounds like a little bit risky."

This is a phrase I heard several times back in 2018 when I started telling people that I would not to go back to work after being laid off. Instead, I told them, I would start my own coaching business.

I listened politely as they gave me their two cents on what risks were involved and the high fail rate new business owners faced.

But, while they listed out all the risks of going for it, I was busy calculating all the risks of not going for it.

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As we journey through life there are forks in the road where we must make a decision. When we get to a fork, there is likely to be one path that looks pretty safe while the other one appears to be more uncertain.

At these forks in the road we have a tendency to lean towards safety. We see one road as risky and therefore head down the safely paved path.

But while we're great at calculating the risk of a new endeavor, we are bad at considering the risk (or loss) of not experiencing its potential upside.

Here are some "risky" opportunities that may pop up in your life:

• Switching career paths
• Jumping industries
• Taking a gap year to travel abroad
• Taking time off to write a book
• Starting a small business

Each opportunity will have some risk involved. But we must compare the risk of "failure" against the opportunity cost of not going for it at all. For example, I'll share my own thought process around starting my business.

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The Reverse Risk Assessment

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The Opportunity: starting my own coaching business

Step 1- Analyze "Traditional Risk": What is the risk of going for it?

• Less security
• Potential loss of money
• Losing time in current career path
• Having to "start over" if I fail
• Loss of company perks: health insurance/ 401k

Step 2- Analyze "Reverse Risk": What is the risk of not going for it?

• Giving up the dream of designing my own business & lifestyle
• Giving up on uncapped earning potential
• Never being able to help all the potential clients out there
• Ignoring my gut for a bit of security
• Perhaps never realizing my full potential

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After running this reverse risk assessment back in 2018, my path became very clear. I'd veer off the road onto the path less traveled. The risk of not going for it was too great.

The next time you come to a difficult fork in the road and you aren't sure which way to turn, remember that there are more than one ways to look at risk.

Sure, you should take a moment to analyze risk in the traditional sense. But don't overlook the risk of not going for it. You might just find that the risk of passing up on the opportunity is simply too big.

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Thanks for subscribing,

- Brendan

​Let's connect on LinkedIn!

​brendanbarca.com​

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