Swim at your own risk

After a long day at work, I went to the pool to relax when I noticed this warning sign. Swimming is not something I am used to, but one of my goals for this quarter is to improve my fitness, so I am giving it a shot.

"Swim at your own risk" "No lifeguard on duty"

I'm not sure why this sentence came to mind, but I wanted to share with you how I reflected on our lives and the risks we take every day. We "live" at our own risk whether we are deciding on a career path, getting married, choosing a field of study, the best way to save, invest, or following certain diets. The consequences will fall squarely on our shoulders. Except for our actions, no one can change the outcome.

We are responsible for our own lives, and if we are sitting around waiting for someone to save, fix, or even help us, we are failing. We're squandering our time because only we have the ability, will, and responsibility to move our lives forward.

Do we enjoy taking chances? When I'm working on a project and the planning phase gets to the point of discussing the risks involved, I always notice that other stakeholders prefer delegating this type of work, discussions, or meetings to other members. Because they do not want to be held accountable. I was raised with the idea that the more risks we take, the greater our achievements, but this isn't always the case, and we (as humans) don't usually enjoy taking risks.

If you believe you need to master risk management in your projects or organization, please review our courses on risk management.

Project Risk Management: Preparation for Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)®
Enterprise Risk Management