TAKE THE RISK

Quote from the Book

“Anyone who refuses to test his limits, anyone unwilling to move out of her comfort zone, is destined to live life inside  the envelope” (p.8)

The Author

Dr. Benjamin Carson is a professor of Neurosurgery, Plastic Surgery, Oncology, and Pediatrics, and was the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. He is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civil honor in America. He is also the author of five bestselling books – Gifted Hands, The Big Picture, America the Beautiful, and One Nation under God.  He serves on the boards of the Kellogg Company, Costco Wholesale Corp., and The Academy of Achievement, among others, and is an Emeritus Fellow of the Yale Corporation. He and his wife, Candy, Cofounded the Carson Scholars Fund (www.carsonscholars.org), a 501(c)3 established to counteract America’s crisis in education by identifying and rewarding academic role models in the fourth through eleventh grades, regardless of race, creed, religion, and socio-economic status, who also demonstrate humanitarian qualities. There are over 4,800 scholars in forty-six states. Ben and Candy are proud parents of three grown sons and reside in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Insights from the Book

Safety first is a principle many of us have been taught to apply in life, especially on the field of work. As a result, not many people are prepared to take risks in their lives. Insurance companies continue to bombard us with diverse adverts on the need to protect ourselves against any form of risk at all. But life itself is a risky business. As a matter of fact, one may never attain a meaningful destiny in life without some requisite measure of risk taking. It, therefore, becomes important that taking risk becomes not only a necessary part of one’s life but also one which is quite inevitable.

Ben Carson is a man that has made his mark in life as a result of taking diverse risks in his career, a Pediatric Neurosurgeon who became renowned for his ground-breaking brain surgeries. In Take The Risk, he penned down life tested principles on risk taking and different aspect of life endeavours where taking risk becomes a necessity. Carson presented what he called Best/Worse Analysis for making a decision which involves risk. You will be able to come up with meaningful decisions by simply asking the following questions: What is the best that could happen if I do this? What is the worst that could happen if I do this? What is the best that could happen if I don’t do this? What is the worst that could happen if I don’t do this? After reading this book, you will not only be able to overcome your inertia—the fear that has trapped you down in your comfort zone, taking risk would also become a lifestyle you would really love experiencing.