How Winners Beat the House 98.9% of the Time
The Timeless Principle of Calculated Risks
This is one in a series of essays that was originally conceived as a book for print publication. If you enjoy it and would like to read more from the collection, you can find a sort of Table of Contents here.
Unless you are fond of gambling, taking a risk sounds like bad advice.
And a lot of the time, it is. We can’t gamble our job on a whim. Especially not in an unpredictable economy. We shouldn’t risk our relationships with those we love by taking them for granted or treating them poorly. We’d better not take needless risks with our health or life, because that sort of thing always catches up with you sooner or later.
But, taking strategic risks, after considering the cost and the potential reward, is absolutely vital to growth as a human being, just as it is in business. If you feel stagnant in your current job, in your home, in your life in general, in a rut, with no clear picture of how you got there or how to get out, a thoroughly-thought-out risk could change everything, often for the best!
For example, if you feel like you are in a dead-end job with no growth potential, and you’re sick to death of pulling your shift every day, take a good look around you. What would happen if you quit?
