Another look at risk management

Would you regret it later if you missed out on it?

Managing risks, fear, uncertainty, and doubt is much more than just what certain professionals over at the banking sector do for their living. It is a part of all of our lives. As I've previously written in The Decline of Western Society, almost all of our decisions – especially the most important ones – involve some sort of risk taking. The risk may be minor or very grave, but it indeed is still always there. The greater the risk, the greater the reward is how it should be. If not, there is something amiss, or it is either a very good or a very bad deal – more than likely the latter.

Big decisions in life involving a kind of risk may include moving to a new location, starting a new job, or buying or investing into something in great deal. On the other hand they may be far more mundane, such as daily habits of spending time with certain people, binge eating, or smoking. We may not always see the risk in our daily habits, but it is always there. These risks as well as the rewards may vary from non-existent to life-changing.

Aside from making calculations about the worthiness of risks, there is another way to take a look at this: by making a choice between different alternatives, you in many cases may be declining another option or an alternative. For instance, most of us can only choose to live in a single place instead of many, or work a certain job or another, but not both. Therefore, choosing one over another will result in you saying "No, thank you" to the other option out there.

Thus the question often (albeit not always) becomes, would it have been worth your while to try something new instead of something old? In many cases, this will be hard to determine with absolute precision. An easier way of asking yourself whether you should choose one over the other might then be if feelings of regret could arise later on. So, the next time you are facing a difficult decision, ask yourself this:

Would you regret it later if you missed out on it?