I agree with the main idea of your post - risk is key point to life change. But it's also important to clearly understand, when risk has place to be and when it's bad decision to take a risk. I would say, that if you are a young guy, don't have wife, children and any huge responsibilities, it's 100% worth to take a risk - run your own startup, do investing/trading but even in that option it's important to have a sober mind and avoid extremely stupid decisions with a priory bad risk-reward ratio. By saying risk-reward ration I mean ratio between how much you put in something and how much you can gain in case of success.

P.S. Even if you are not a young dude, it's still makes sense to try take a risk, probably with the age it becomes harder, but if you have an understanding why are you doing that, you may find it easier to start.

Good luck to anyone, who is making important decisions in a life, I am sure that you will succeed!