Taking Risks for Success
by Randy Gage
In the last two posts we looked at hope versus delusion, and I said that if you really believe in your idea, you should take a shot. Too many people are risk-adverse, and operate their lives in fear-based modes. I talked about this in depth on podcast #140 Secret of the Super Achievers. Worth a listen if you haven’t already. Here’s the basis of the hypothesis.
- Younger, less successful people are more open to risk. (Likely because they have less to lose.)
- Older, more successful people are more conservative and risk-averse. (Likely because they have more to lose, and less tie to regain any losses.)
- As you gain in years and success, your willingness to risk ratio decreases accordingly. (Exactly for the reasons above.)
- The people who would classify as Super Achievers buck this trend. (Complete opposite and counterintuitive of all conventional wisdom and societal norms.)
Elon Musk made a fortune as a co-founder of PayPal. He had nothing to prove and lots to lose. Yet he rolled the dice and risked everything to launch Tesla, The Boring Company and Space X.
Oprah had the most popular TV show since the earth’s crust cooled. Yet she walked away from it, and took a massive risk to launch her own television network.
Elon, Oprah and other high achievers like Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, and George Lucas are willing to take risks in scenarios that “normal” people simply are not willing to. If you want to become the highest possible version of yourself. You’re going to have to take some risks.
If you truly understood your godlike nature, you would never play small again.
-RG
Originally published at https://www.randygage.com on August 28, 2019.
