What are the ways to measure risk/returns?

Volatility is layman terms, is just a measure of how much stock price flip-flop on a daily basis, subject to the mood swings of Mr Market. It might be a good proxy of risk for day traders, but for long-term investors, it isnt up for the job.

VaR or Value at risk is another ratio you can use above Sharpe, Sortino, and Treynor risk ratios.

It's the chance of loss given normal market conditions on a year to year or month to month basis.

Or you can simply use mean and 3 standard deviations as well for a simpler understanding for your own portfolio.