As we continue to look at Tim Hoch’s great article from Thought Catalog called “10 Ways You’re Making Your Life Harder Than it Has To Be,” we are going to analyze point six: “You don’t take risks.”

It’s easy for us to get comfortable in the world of business. We find a position that we might not necessarily love, but gives us good pay, good benefits or whatever else it is that keeps us satisfied.

But maybe you don’t want to just be satisfied. Maybe you have an opportunity to take a risk and shoot for a new position, start a new company or introduce a bold new product. In these cases, your comfort could be the very thing that’s holding you back.

It’s understandable if you are nervous about taking risks — you should be! No risk should ever be taken lightly, and it’s probably going to be a little scary at first. But in the long run, would you rather go the rest of your professional life wondering what would have happened had you jumped at the chance to take that risk, and regretting the decision you made to just say comfortable instead?

Ultimately, our own comfort with our careers could also be what holds us back from achieving our dreams. You’re going to have to take risks fairly often if you want to progress in your career, and while the risk might not always pay off, it’s better than never taking a risk at all.

We’re back to looking at some of the key points made in the book Impending Crisis by Roger Herman. According to Herman, one of the biggest ways to attract and keep high-quality employees is by giving them the chance to do something meaningful.

People don’t want to get up every day and go to a place where they’re doing what they feel is “just a job.” They want to know that they’re making a difference, whether it’s in the lives of customers, clients, the general public or otherwise. They want to be able to see firsthand how the work that they do impacts other people.

Another aspect of this is that they want to be able to do work that is meaningful to themselves. We have already talked about growth and opportunity as being primary factors for good employees to stay in a job — that sort of growth and personal enrichment makes a person’s work that much more meaningful.

So what can employers do to help make work more meaningful? You may try letting your employees get more involved in the design of your work or the strategic planning of your business to help them get more invested and give them more of a hand in the kind of impact your company has. You might attempt to do more outreach work within a community, or sponsor local events. Simply giving people a chance to make a difference can also make a difference in your workplace.

Four Things You Can’t Recover From:

• The word – after it’s said
• The occasion – after it’s missed
• The time – after it’s gone 
• The stone – after it’s thrown 

We often talk about how we can set ourselves up for success, or get off on the right foot with potential clients or new employees. But what happens when we say or do something that we wind up regretting later?

Here are four examples of things that you unfortunately cannot take back:

• The Word – After It’s Said
  Have you ever said something to a potential job candidate that you really wish you could take back? To avoid a situation like this, it’s extremely important that you are able to see your company through the eyes of your candidates and present the image that you want people to see.
• The Occasion – After It’s Missed
  Every day there will be opportunities that present themselves to improve yourself or your company: potentially great employees, excellent seminars, networking events, etc. Simply put, life is too short to miss out on every single opportunity that crosses your path.
• The Time – After It’s Gone
  You can’t get back lost time, which makes it even more important to constantly be working toward all of your goals. Stay committed and make this the year that you take advantage of the time you have.
• The Stone – After It’s Thrown
  Always remain positive. You can never take back negative remarks about your competitors, your coworkers or your work in general. Negativity strongly affects how potential candidates view you.

Don’t put yourself in a situation where you have to regret anything you do in your career. Consider how you can prevent yourself from getting into situations where you wish you could take back your actions.