CEO who summitted Mt. Everest 8 times: How to achieve success without chasing risks
You can't climb the world's tallest mountains without assuming some risk. The same goes for starting your own business. Few people understand both of those concepts better than Adrian Ballinger, the 46-year-old founder and CEO of Alpenglow Expeditions. A climbing guide for the past 25 years, Ballinger has led more than 150 international climbing expeditions across six continents. He's scaled Mount Everest eight times and in May, he recorded the first-ever fully ski descent of Nepal's Makalu — the world's fifth-highest peak, at more than 27,000 feet. But Ballinger is adamant that he's no "adrenaline junkie." He says his primary goal, whether he's on a mountain or in his company's Olympic Valley, California offices, is to avoid any and all unnecessary risks. "My whole career has been about recognizing that there is risk in what we do, but then managing, mitigating, and often turning back and failing versus going too far," he tells CNBC Make It. "And I think that's how I approach business, as well."

'There's no such thing' as completely avoiding risk

In business, as in mountain climbing, "there's no such thing" as completely avoiding risks, Ballinger says. After all, he passed up a career in the medical field to become a mountain climbing guide in 1997, and struck out on his own to launch Alpenglow in 2004. "I've had to take steps and risk failure, and understand that there might be consequences when I make poor choices in my business, which I do all the time," he says. Research and preparation can help make sure you're at least taking educated risks. You may not be totally ready for anything that comes your way, but if you've considered enough potential outcomes, you can train your brain to stay calm during stressful situations, Ballinger says. "It's almost like training any other sort of muscle," he says, adding that you can improve simply by facing unknown situations and either succeeding or failing. "That, I think, is the single biggest thing we can do: actually train this ability of accepting what comes and continuing onwards."

What Ballinger's risk analysis looks like