Taking risks is essential for college students looking to grow and thrive.
We take risks all the time. Risks are baked into our lifestyle.
Hitting snooze on your alarm for the third time? Risk ✅
Putting off that assignment until two hours before it’s due? Risk ✅
Skipping class even though you have an exam for it next week? Risk ✅
Parking on campus for a few minutes to unload even though you don’t have a parking pass? Risk ✅
Setting a timer for a 30-minute nap and hoping it doesn’t turn into a 3-hour one? Risk ✅
Perhaps these aren’t the risks we should be taking if we want to live out a cookie-cutter version of what it means to be productive and “on top of things.” These risks seem to be rooted in procrastination, convenience, or a little wishful thinking. Typically, we take these risks on without a second thought.
And yet, when faced with the choice between sticking to what’s familiar or daring to pursue the authentic and unknown, we often hesitate.
The other day, I wondered: If people chased the life they actually wanted to live, like truly chase after it on every level, would they be happier? Is stepping outside of your comfort zone and possibly breaking apart from the status quo for a chance at higher fulfillment worth the risk?
The right kind of risk starts with imagination.
It’s not just about weighing the pros and cons of two choices or rationally thinking through the decision to see which would option would yield a more positive outcome.
Risk-taking as a way to build a better life begins with intentionally imagining all of the possibilities out there that wait to be actualized by you.
And no, it doesn’t have to be some sort of life-altering, earth-shattering, ground-breaking alternate reality that you try to achieve. The point is that we can use our imagination to envision a version of any piece of our reality to be better than it currently is, even if that difference is only a fraction.
When we use this approach to risk-taking, we’re not only taking risks that could change our lives—we’re expanding our sense of what we are capable of and using it as an opportunity for growth and change.
Maybe this why we’re better at taking risks as children, because we begin to lose that imagination as we grow up. The reality that we live in has little room for it as adults.
What’s important to remember, however, is that not taking those risks, not daring to be imaginative, not willing to step away from a convenient alternative for a shot at a reality that’s even the slightest bit more fulfilling for you is, in and of itself, a risk.
