This video is an introduction to this module. It highlights how taking risks is important to living a meaningful life.
What is risk?
When you think about it, you choose to take part in activities that involve risk every day. For example, you might catch public transport to work and risk that the service will be delayed. But there is also the possibility of getting to work early if the service is running too well.
All activities that involve risk bring with them the chance of something happening. This means that at the heart of the idea of risk is uncertainty – we are not entirely sure what will happen.
So, should you not take part in activities involving risk because you are not sure what the outcomes will be?
Stop for a moment and imagine what your life would be like if you did not take the opportunity to try new things like going on a holiday, moving out of home, changing jobs or going on a date.
If you proceed through life without participating in risky activities, it is very likely that you will reduce your opportunities for a good life, for growth and development and achieving the things that are important to you.
Many positive benefits come from engaging in risk-taking behaviour.
Thinking ahead about the ways in which you approach an activity involving risk means that you can engage in risky activities while reducing outcomes you might not want. So, for example, if you were going to invest in the stock market, you could minimise your risk in a number of ways. These include: investing only a small amount of your savings, spreading your investments over many different shares or seeking advice from an expert before you proceed.
How ‘risky’ we think something is can change over time – it can become less of a risk with practice and reflection. For example, when beginning to learn how to drive a car, your risk of an accident might be greater than after having had years of driving experience. With practice, you can reduce the risk of an accident because you become able to adapt to a situation, like driving in wet conditions.
All activities that involve risk bring with them the chance of something happening. This means that at the heart of the idea of risk is uncertainty – we are not entirely sure what will happen.
So, should you not take part in activities involving risk because you are not sure what the outcomes will be?
Stop for a moment and imagine what your life would be like if you did not take the opportunity to try new things like going on a holiday, moving out of home, changing jobs or going on a date.
If you proceed through life without participating in risky activities, it is very likely that you will reduce your opportunities for a good life, for growth and development and achieving the things that are important to you.
Many positive benefits come from engaging in risk-taking behaviour.
Thinking ahead about the ways in which you approach an activity involving risk means that you can engage in risky activities while reducing outcomes you might not want. So, for example, if you were going to invest in the stock market, you could minimise your risk in a number of ways. These include: investing only a small amount of your savings, spreading your investments over many different shares or seeking advice from an expert before you proceed.
How ‘risky’ we think something is can change over time – it can become less of a risk with practice and reflection. For example, when beginning to learn how to drive a car, your risk of an accident might be greater than after having had years of driving experience. With practice, you can reduce the risk of an accident because you become able to adapt to a situation, like driving in wet conditions.
Types of outcomes from taking risk
Taking a risk is about “doing” something that brings with it an unknown outcome. When we take a risk, we can experience outcomes that are either positive or negative.
These positive and negative outcomes can belong to different categories, depending upon the activity you are doing.
These positive and negative outcomes can belong to different categories, depending upon the activity you are doing.
These outcome categories include:
- Psychosocial Well-Being: this relates to one’s emotional, psychological, mental and social health or well-being. When disability support workers think about outcomes that happen from taking risks, they often do not think about psychosocial outcomes for the people they support. This could be because it is not something that can be easily seen. If, for example, you attended a social event, a positive psychosocial outcome would be that you made new friends. A negative psychosocial outcome would be that people stared at you, or you felt ignored by others at the event.
A summary of outcomes from risk is provided in Figure 1.
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Benefits come from taking risks
It is important to recognise that there are benefits to be gained from engaging in activities involving risk. Often, it is easy to think of risk as something dangerous, but this is not always the case.
When disability support workers were asked to think about some of the benefits of taking risks in their own lives, they said that taking risks helped them to:
- learn new skills
- let go
- have new experiences
- build confidence
- learn how far their ‘comfort zone’ could be stretched
- have more motivation to try new things
- meet new people
- increase engagement, interest and enthusiasm
When people choose to avoid risk, or are risk averse, it is usually out of fear of something going wrong. However, by doing this, positive experiences may also be lost and opportunities to grow and develop limited. It is worthwhile remembering that sometimes the biggest risk comes from not taking a risk at all.
What influences whether someone takes a risk?
In spite of the potential for positive outcomes, many factors can determine whether someone decides to follow through in taking a risk or not. These influences can be internally-driven (i.e., by the person themselves) or externally-driven (i.e., by other people’s opinions or actions).
Things that influence whether someone takes a risk include:
“I value learning from new experiences and taking this risk will help me to learn and grow.”
“I have taken this risk before and I can do it again. I know that I am better able to deal with the risk this time around.”
"Do I have enough of an understanding about what I am about to participate in for me to want to take this risk?"
"Am I supported to take this risk by the people around me?"
"Will the room be large enough?"
Things that influence whether someone takes a risk include:
- Core Values – Our core values drive our behaviour. We can value honesty, integrity, learning and feeling connected to others, just to name a few. We act in ways that express our core values.
“I value learning from new experiences and taking this risk will help me to learn and grow.”
- Prior experience – This means having the opportunity to undertake risk, learn from it and try again.
“I have taken this risk before and I can do it again. I know that I am better able to deal with the risk this time around.”
- Knowledge – Having information about the amount and type of risk involved will determine whether you will undertake the risk.
"Do I have enough of an understanding about what I am about to participate in for me to want to take this risk?"
- Context or environment – This includes the influence your family, friends or workplace have on your decision to take a risk. It also includes other things like cost, physical space, catering, weather.
"Am I supported to take this risk by the people around me?"
"Will the room be large enough?"
ACTIVITY 1: Reflecting on my risk-taking behaviour
This activity asks you to reflect upon risks you have taken or were prevented from taking in your own life. As part of this process, you will consider the positive and negative outcomes associated with the risk and the categories to which they belong.
This activity has 3 separate questions. Please read the instruction carefully, then complete each of the tables in the downloadable workbook located in the Resources section. A completed example for each question has been provided in the workbook for you.
This activity has 3 separate questions. Please read the instruction carefully, then complete each of the tables in the downloadable workbook located in the Resources section. A completed example for each question has been provided in the workbook for you.
- Think of a time when you CHOSE to undertake a risky activity. Write the activity at the top of the table, then complete the sections.
- Think of a time when you CHOSE to NOT participate in a risky activity. Write the activity at the top of the table, then complete the sections.
- Think of a time when you were PREVENTED from undertaking a ‘risky’ activity. For example, it could have been a friend, family member, partner or employer who discouraged you or prevented you from doing something you wanted to do. Write the activity at the top of the table, then complete the sections.
If you have any questions about this module, or would like some further guidance about the activities, you can send an enquiry using the Contact Form. Suggested responses to the activities are provided in the Resources section.
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SUMMARY MODULE 1
Developing an understanding of risk will help you to enable the people you support to take risks.
This module has highlighted that:
This module has highlighted that:
- Risks do not have predictable outcomes but potentially negative outcomes can be reduced through a range of strategies
- Risks can have positive benefits
- Taking risks provides an opportunity to learn new things and live an engaged and meaningful life for all of us.
Header photograph courtesy of Gary Radler Photography