there’s a lot we can cover societally right now about the argument of safety over freedom and vice-versa, but let’s forget about society and culture and what’s going on in the world for a moment and think only of our own lives.
Whatever it is that you want from life…
…Be it wealth, happiness, meaning, excitement, adventure, success, whatever…
…Will not be found with a safety-first mentality.
To be constantly avoiding risk at all cost is no different than avoiding the act of living, or avoiding what you truly want most out of life.
You take a risk when you ask a cutie out, who could end up being a huge part of your life for all you know.
You take a risk when you take a trip that will shape who you are, one you’ll remember for a lifetime.
We see ‘risk’ as something that could yield a massive positive but also has a downside if we fail.
In these immediate risks — like starting a business, moving to a new place, making an investment — even failure provides opportunities for growth, for greater knowledge, or at worst, we develop more toughness.
We don’t think about playing it safe as a risk, but it appears to be the greatest risk at all, yielding ONLY a negative long-term outcome, without the possibility of something great happening.
Yet, we’re brilliant at rationalizing safety no matter how much we want that victory that’s on the other side of risk.
The more you read history and great historical figures – even the explorers of Antartica or the Nile in Africa – you see how men are called to a life outside of the safety of our homes and cities and the comforts that crush our ambitions for adventure.
You see how we feed off of danger, how we get a thrill out of exploring the unknown – even if it’s only unknown to us.
Think about the kind of man you want to become.
Think about the life that a man lives if he always chooses the safe path.
He knows what tomorrow will bring… basically the same as today, until one-day it doesn’t.
Let’s call these ‘highly regulated lives’, because they’re pretty similar to highly regulated economies.
They don’t thwart failure or a crash, they simply minimize short term volatility in lieu of greater and far more destructive volatility in the future.
Like the markets, we need highs and lows. We need failures and victories. We need daily risk, adventure, and loss so as to prepare us for some future even that we can’t plan for.
Playing it safe is not only an avoidance of life, it’s an avoidance of becoming the man who’s able to withstand anything.
The man consumed by safety will break when times get tough.
The man who’s happy with risk will thrive when times get tough.
Find out what excites you, what puts wind in your sails, gives you energy, and do more of that stuff, whatever the risks.
For me, travel is important – though not doable right now, so I have to look for other things, other adventures and changes.
Taking risks in business lights a fire under me arse…
Time stands still. I’ll work for hours without eating just because of the challenge that lies ahead.
Being in nature does as well, especially here in Alberta where we have all kinds of wild animals, but also when I travel.
It’s those things we love that require risk that make life enjoyable, that make it exciting, and that cannot be experienced if we constantly choose safety.
Think about those things you’ve always wanted to do, and do them.
Waste no more time preparing or putting off, before you know it you’ll be looking back on those things as things you wish you did but never got around to doing, and now you can’t.
