Complete the quiz below to see if you're a risk-taker. Score one point for each 'yes' answer.

1. Have you ever quit a job you didn't like without another job lined up?
2. Would you go to a bar alone or to a party where you don't know anyone?
3. Have you dramatically changed your hair in the past two years?
4. Have you ever invested considerable time or money in a project you knew could fail?
5. Have you ever gone whitewater rafting, bungee jumping, paragliding or scuba diving?
6. Have you spoken or performed in front of an audience in the past two years?
7. Are you always happily the first to say 'I love you' in a new relationship?
8. If you had $500 for clothes shopping, would you allow a friend to choose your wardrobe?

How did you score?

• 7-8: You're a thrillseeking junkie and there's not much you're really scared of in life.
• 5-6: You take measured risks but you don't jump off the deep end enough.
• Less than 4: It's time to engage in some risky business - you're truly set in your ways.

Don't always play it safe

If you're not taking enough risks you're probably not at the top of your game - professionally speaking.

'Most high achievers have a few things in common,' says Derek Hollett, managing director of Oplus, a company that provides risk strategies for corporations.

'They're obviously passionate about their work, they have clear goals and they tend to uniformly take more risks than other people.

'In the olden days, you were respected if you were in one job and received the golden handshake after 50 years of service,' he explains. 'People who moved from job to job were considered a high risk.

'These days though, if you stay in the same job for years on end you're not learning anything new and the risk is you may become stale.'

Derek says that today, with the country in full employment and skills at a shortage, there's no better time to think about taking a new risk with your job - either something different within your own company or somewhere else all together.

It's all about positive thinking

There's no doubt that positive thinking can bolster our heart health and add years to our lives, as many medical studies attest. And now psychologists believe risk-takers may be naturally better at being positive.

A study in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology asked first-time bungee jumpers to rate their risk of bungee-related injury compared to the average jumper as soon as they arrived at the club and again just before they jumped.

Most rated their risk as lower than the average jumper, but their family and friends, who were there to observe the jump, rated their risk of injury as the same as the average jumper.

The jumpers came to the club with a more positive attitude than the observers and it improved just before take-off.

'[The study] reminds us that people do get something out of taking risks,' the researcher says. 'There are positive aspects to risk-taking.'

Risky business

Keen to take risks in your career? follow these tips:

1. Put it on paper first. Figure out what's most important to you. Is it travel, money or a better life balance? Then work out ways you can achieve this in your career. It might mean doing a short course or creating more networking opportunities for yourself to get out of your comfort zone. The comfort zone is secure and alluring. But if you can't move out of it, you'll limit your own personal possibilities.
2. Learn to laugh at your failures. Walt Disney's first cartoon production company went bankrupt. John Grisham's first novel, A Time to Kill, was rejected by 16 different agents and two dozen publishers. 'The first trick is to believe in yourself even when no-one else believes in you,' says Derek Hollett, managing director of Oplus, a company that provides risk strategies for corporations.
3. Don't risk not having a life. 'A lot of women think they'll go back to work straight after having a baby,' Derek says. 'But nature kicks in and they discover what they really want is a work-life balance. After all, no-one on their deathbed looked back and said: "Oh, I'm worried about what I left in my office in-tray." That's why you have to create a healthy mental collage of a job that fits
   in best with your lifestyle, not a lifestyle that fits in with your job.'

For more great health and lifestyle stories, check out the latest issue of New Idea - on sale now!