Working in higher education, I’ve seen many students struggle with their fears and self-doubts about college. Some of them believe they are not “cut out for college” and convince themselves they are going to fail before they even start. Others allow a bad experience in one class to give them the excuse to drop out of college altogether. It’s sad, but many of us fear failure so much that we don’t even try.

Q: Why risk change? Why can’t things just stay the way they are?

A: In the minds of some, the risk of change is seen as greater than the risk of standing still. To change requires a leap of faith, and many people are reticent to move in the direction of the unknown on the promise that something will be better for them. If they have no proof, taking that leap of faith is risky, and people will only take steps toward the unknown if they genuinely “believe,” and perhaps more importantly “feel,” the risks of standing still are greater than those of moving forward in a new direction. Making a change is all about managing risk.

Because some people claim to be risk adverse, it can be difficult for them to accept change. What they fail to realize is that the biggest risk is not taking any risk at all. What would your life be like without risk? If you stop to think about it, there are risks inherent in the things you do every day. If you ever played a sport, drove a car, owned a house, or loved another person, you have taken risks. In fact, you cannot live a normal life without taking risks. So attempting to live safely under a false shell of protection is a risk in itself because that goes against human nature, which is passionate, curious, lively, and risky. Don’t let risk become an excuse for fearing change.

Furthermore, those who seek to take no risks may be taking the biggest risk of all. If you want to set yourself up for failure, not taking any chances in life is certainly the best way to achieve it. When you allow fear of failure to paralyze you and prevent you from trying anything new, you can have complete confidence that you will never achieve anything worthwhile. It reminds me of the definition of insanity often attributed to Einstein as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” Taking risks is as natural to us as breathing. When we avoid it, we deny who and what we are, and prevent ourselves from ever becoming what we can become.

Since you have to take risks every day with every step you take, why not accept the risks that will help you achieve your goals and dreams in life? Pursue the education, the relationship, the job, or the business you have always dreamed about. Rewards don’t come without risk and neither does change. Don’t ever run the risk of not trying to make a change in your life because that’s the biggest risk of all.

Please continue to send your questions to osuitpresident@okstate.edu.

Dr. Bill R. Path is president of Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology and board member of Okmulgee Main Street Inc.