One of the things I’ve learned a lot about over the past few years is risk.

The truth of life is that if you don’t risk, you don’t grow.

Now when people talk about risk, often it is in a negative way. Driving fast is risky, gambling is risky, skydiving is risky. If something is ‘risky’ it sounds like it might be dangerous or cause us to lose something.

And yet, by choosing not to risk, we forfeit the chance to become something bigger and better. We cheat ourselves out of the chance to experience life at it’s fullest.

I believe the most difficult type of risk is the choice to be yourself. When you speak your truth and act like the person you truly want to be, you risk rejection from those around you.

When you stop acting like the person you’ve been in the past, it means the people around you can’t relate to you in the same way. They have to adjust their behavior to suit how you have changed. And usually they don’t like that very much.

The greatest act of courage I believe is being who you truly are. Without a persona, without an agenda, without a need to gain approval from anyone but you.

In the past few years, I have taken financial risks, career risks, competitive risks. I have even sold everything I owned and moved to the other side of the world.

Yet all these risks pale in comparison to the risk of truly being yourself.

When you take the risk of being who you are, being vulnerable and honest, then – and only then – are you truly living your best life.

Take the risk.

– DMS