Why don't I see project risks until they become problems?

Seeing risks only once they have become problems is the most common trap there is, and it does not mean you lack foresight. It means you are reacting instead of pausing to look ahead, usually because you are busy and the day pulls you from one fire to the next. Foresight is a habit you can build, not a talent you were born without. A risk is just a problem that has not happened yet, and most of them send signals early if you make time to ask. The simple move is to stop, before and during any project, and ask one question: what could go wrong here. Write the answers down, even the unlikely ones. Half the battle is simply looking for trouble on purpose instead of waiting for it to find you. Build a small routine: at the start of each week or each project, spend ten minutes listing what might go sideways and what you would do about it. That short pause is what separates people who fight fires from people who prevent them. You are not blind to risk. You have just never scheduled the time to look for it. Schedule it, and you will start seeing sooner.