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For me, it seems failure leads me to take greater risks in the near future.. at least risks with a great potential for payoff.
If I fail at some major goal or am told (directly or indirectly) by someone I respect that I failed, I will have a greater than normal tendency to pursue high risk high reward goals and to get out of my comfort zone in the next few months. While failure may also cause me to work harder in subsequent periods, that effect isn't as pronounced as the increase in my risk taking.
I think that trying harder next time is a healthy response. I don't know about the extra risk taking. I suppose it depends upon what you include as risk taking. There is nothing wrong with striving beyond your comfort zone as long as you aren't endangering yourself.
However the world seems to be split into two types. Those who try harder and those who wont try again because they tried and failed. You can find the quitters on forums whining that wealth is only due to luck and they never had any luck.
It's not too clear in the original post--is this "failure" that happened related to taking a risk?
Many people (like me) are risk aversive. I don't like taking risks, and I will only take modest risks that have a higher chance of success. I find no enjoyment whatsoever in gambling, for instance. Nothing about it seems fun to me, just stressful and a waste of money. I would only invest my money into things that are as much a "sure thing" as possible. Sure that means I won't likely ever be stinking rich, but I don't need that. I might like actual roller-coasters, but not financial roller-coasters or emotional roller-coasters. I'm not incredibly risk-averse when it comes to physical risks--I climbed super-high trees as a kid, I've been sky-diving, I love roller coasters, and I once jumped in my myself to stop a mugging of an old man. But lots of people are opposed to that kind of risk taking as well.
But some people really get-off on risk. They crave it. They love gambling, investing money in high-risk investments. I think that some people who crave risk actually get addicted to it.
Most people are somewhere in between these extremes on the continuum. Being very general here, I would say that the "average person", if they take a risk and fail, it more likely to NOT take a similar risk again. The failure is like burning their hand on a hot stove, and they want to avoid the hot stove in the future. If someone takes a risk and fails as a result, and that causes them to want to take even more risks, I don't think that's very common.
Someone invests a bunch of money in a high-risk enterprise and loses it all. If that makes them MORE likely to take more investment risks, I'd be concerned about that person and their judgment.
Someone loses their life saving in a casino. If that makes the person want to gamble even MORE, I seriously question their judgment.
Someone goes sky-diving and suffers serious injuries. If that makes them MORE likely to do it again, more and more, I'd have concerns about that person's judgment.
Someone takes an emotional risk, like trusting someone who's betrayed them in the past, and they get burned again. If that makes them MORE likely to take a similar risk again, I'd be concerned about that person's judgment.
Again, I'm being very general here. I do recognize there are some people who believe that if they fail at some kind of risk, they should not only try again, but try harder and try it even more. And there's something to be said for that, to an extent. "Hey, my first attempt at chemo didn't help, but I'm going to the next experimental treatment with the attitude of a fighter." But with some people, it almost becomes like defiance. "I've taken a risk and failed, so now I'm gonna take an even bigger risk, just for spite." That to me sounds like an immature, adolescent attitude, or the kind of attitude people in the midst of mania might have.
It's not too clear in the original post--is this "failure" that happened related to taking a risk?
Many people (like me) are risk aversive. I don't like taking risks, and I will only take modest risks that have a higher chance of success. I find no enjoyment whatsoever in gambling, for instance. Nothing about it seems fun to me, just stressful and a waste of money. I would only invest my money into things that are as much a "sure thing" as possible. Sure that means I won't likely ever be stinking rich, but I don't need that. I might like actual roller-coasters, but not financial roller-coasters or emotional roller-coasters. I'm not incredibly risk-averse when it comes to physical risks--I climbed super-high trees as a kid, I've been sky-diving, I love roller coasters, and I once jumped in my myself to stop a mugging of an old man. But lots of people are opposed to that kind of risk taking as well.
But some people really get-off on risk. They crave it. They love gambling, investing money in high-risk investments. I think that some people who crave risk actually get addicted to it.
Most people are somewhere in between these extremes on the continuum. Being very general here, I would say that the "average person", if they take a risk and fail, it more likely to NOT take a similar risk again. The failure is like burning their hand on a hot stove, and they want to avoid the hot stove in the future. If someone takes a risk and fails as a result, and that causes them to want to take even more risks, I don't think that's very common.
Someone invests a bunch of money in a high-risk enterprise and loses it all. If that makes them MORE likely to take more investment risks, I'd be concerned about that person and their judgment.
Someone loses their life saving in a casino. If that makes the person want to gamble even MORE, I seriously question their judgment.
Someone goes sky-diving and suffers serious injuries. If that makes them MORE likely to do it again, more and more, I'd have concerns about that person's judgment.
Someone takes an emotional risk, like trusting someone who's betrayed them in the past, and they get burned again. If that makes them MORE likely to take a similar risk again, I'd be concerned about that person's judgment.
Again, I'm being very general here. I do recognize there are some people who believe that if they fail at some kind of risk, they should not only try again, but try harder and try it even more. And there's something to be said for that, to an extent. "Hey, my first attempt at chemo didn't help, but I'm going to the next experimental treatment with the attitude of a fighter." But with some people, it almost becomes like defiance. "I've taken a risk and failed, so now I'm gonna take an even bigger risk, just for spite." That to me sounds like an immature, adolescent attitude, or the kind of attitude people in the midst of mania might have.
I'm thinking more along the line of educated risk taking.. taking risks that have little/no probability of a permanent setback. Driving 100 mph on the freeway, going skydiving, or investing your life savings in a speculative business do not fit the bill.
But contacting and reaching out new people in a new industry is something I might think of as a high risk high reward activity. You might look foolish in the way you approach this person and they might even share that with their close contacts.. or they might hate you on sight. This is the sort of thing I have very little inhibitions against doing after suffering a major failure at least in my career.
For me, the more I fail at advancing my career, the lower my inhibitions are against, say, reaching out to new people, organizations, companies, etc. I may be scared of cold calling at day 0 but after "failing" or not making progress for a year, I'd get a huge adrenaline rush by cold calling and stepping out of my comfort zone.
Hunh. So these "failures" were not related to failed risks, but just general failures?
I would just guess that you get some internal "charge" out of these risks, and maybe the adrenaline or endorphins that get released when you do these things are a way of naturally "medicating" any bad feelings you get after a failure.
I know people who get a chemical rush from running or exercising, so they might engage in these things more when something gets them down. Other people might go for external chemicals when they feel knocked down, like alcohol or drugs. I would say as long as your increased risky behavior is not reckless, it's not endangering you physically or financially, and it helps you feel better, and it yields some positive pay-off, then it's fine.
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