📝 Task 2: Taking risks in professional and personal lives
Is asking for a raise always a good idea? Rory breaks down how to discuss calculated risks versus reckless ones, showing you how to build a powerful argument without sounding like a gambler. Essential advice!
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?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience
Write at least 250 words
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Introduction: It has been stated that people should engage in risky behaviour both professionally and personally. While some may argue for a more conservative approach to life, I would posit that risk-taking behaviour would be beneficial to individuals, on the whole, provided it is appropriate.
P1: The disadvantages of taking more or any risks in life appear to be quite significant. The chances of failure increase with each such action taken and failure often has a variety of negative consequences associated with it. For example, in a professional sense, asking for a salary increase in a market which favours employers may result in a loss of employment. From a personal perspective, being seen as a risk taker can result in negative perceptions of the person engaging in this kind of activity. For instance, if someone consumes alcohol and drives a car afterwards.
P2: However, both of these examples are less about the idea of risk-taking and more about reckless risk-taking. If a person carefully considers the consequences and how to maximize the chances of success beforehand then there should be more beneficial outcomes. Referring back to the previous professional case, if the person asking for a salary increase made a case for the raise and demonstrated they had an appropriate skillset, then they would be more likely to benefit from taking this risk (and could take their skills elsewhere if they lost their job as a result). In the case of the personal example, it would be better to partake in risks that might enhance one's reputation such as expressing opinions contrary to the norm but well thought out in structure. These risks could enhance one's standing further than those which are poorly considered.
Conclusion: In summary, while engaging in risky behaviour might initially appear to be ill-advised, by adding some forethought into the actions around it a person can benefit from it, both in a professional and personal sense. Without this, though, it is easy to understand why others may believe the opposite.