Play it safe or risk it?
As long as you play life safe, you’re always going to be an underachiever. Sometimes you have to take risks and push yourself to see what you’re really made of.
Are you a risk taker or do you play it safe?
Did you take risks and fail?
Do you play it safe because you’re used to being comfortable?
Is that the life that you really want?
Why don’t some people take risks?
Because the comfort zone is well… comfortable and they don’t want to get out. They are complacent with their current situation.
The big problem is that many people are scared of change. I think that only a small percentage of the Earth’s population actually enjoys change. Why is that though?
I think it’s because modern society offered us a lot of comfort and we don’t have to chase lions from our villages or hunt gazelles to eat. Think about it, our ancestors had to go out there and get food without knowing what dangers they might face or if they will come back home alive.
Nowadays, we use a “rectangular thing” to order food and buy stuff online with just a little effort from our houses which by the way, have heat, electricity, running water and ACs.
I can die anytime
“But but I drive to work, I can die anytime, isn’t that a risk?”
The National Safety Council of America states that the odds of dying in a motor vehicle crash are 1 in 101.
Let’s assume these odds are 1% in the world, in the past you could have died any day going out hunting. I’d say these are pretty good chances. This doesn’t make you a risk-taker. Hold your horses, cowboy. This just means that maybe you can get to work using the subway.
Try again
Maybe you took some risks in the past, things didn’t pan out the way you wanted and now, you’re scared that you’re going to fail or be rejected again. It’s normal to feel like this, most people don’t enjoy failure or rejection, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again and again and again.
All our past experiences shape the people that we are today. Everything that happens TO us, can be seen as something that happened FOR us. All the challenges can be learning opportunities, even if you don’t view them like that at that moment. The more something knocks you down, the more you can grow from it.
Never give up!
The important thing is to never give up; there will always be things to face and overcome, especially if you risk it and push yourself. This means you have a growth mindset which will lead to becoming an upgraded version of yourself, who can deal with things easier than your past self.
“If this helps so much, why don’t people risk more?”
Because it’s not easy, being used to your own ?bubble” protects you from what’s happening BUT it also prevents you from learning. You’ll find out ways to solve problems and not be affected — that much — by the things that happen.
?What are you saying? I have my own bubble and I have no issues in dealing with things.”
Maybe that’s true BUT and this is a big BUT, you could do so much better. I strongly believe that people who risk it, no matter how small the risk is, to get out of their comfort zone, slowly but surely, they WILL grow and improve.
For a long time, I didn’t like to take risks. Can’t say that now I’m a big risk taker. To give you an example of ?not risking”, was my website which I officially launched last week and I’m very proud of myself!
A guy asked me: ?What if nobody will be interested?”
I said: ?That’s totally fine, my goal was to launch it. We’ll see what happens.”
I wanted to prove to myself that I can achieve it, I postponed this project for a long time, there was always something, a font, a logo, didn’t like the site’s theme, didn’t know what text to write etc. I’m sure you know how it is to go down that overthinking, excuse-making rabbit hole. It’s not fun.
Once you get out… oh man, it’s amazing. The level of satisfaction can’t be measured. The problem is that, it doesn’t last long and you want more. You look for things to spike your dopamine and sometimes you look for it in the wrong places. That’s a talk for another time.
“What made you take the leap?”
I wanted to take things to another level; in this way, I can help more people. “Always Improve” has been my motto for a long time and now that I finally got to put it out there, it made me really proud.
It’s time to conquer the next mountain!
I think I should describe my comfort zone a bit as well, right?
Maybe I should have started with that, oh well…
Fixed mindset
Believe it or not, I used to have a fixed mindset. I thought I knew enough, and I didn’t need to improve. I didn’t take any risks; I just went with the things that I was familiar with.
The problem is that the fixed mindset has its limits. Some things happened, long story short, I realized that I needed to take a risk, make a change, put all that I know behind and start over. It was the best decision I ever made.
Improving yourself is never ever going to be a bad idea
“I still don’t get it, why wasn’t the comfort zone enough?”
Because I wanted more, I needed to become a better version of myself.
“What if the comfort zone is enough for me?”
That’s totally fine. If that’s what you want and are happy with. I strongly believe that the best things are outside of our own bubble that we call the comfort zone.
“I don’t know… I’m working this 9 to 5 job, I come home, hang out with the kids, watch TV/spend time on Tik Tok, eat something, maybe do some chores around the house and just relax, because tomorrow I’m going to work again. This is my life; what risks are you talking about? I’m good.”
Yes, I get it. Many people live this life, unfortunately, if you ask me.
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“Why is that, what’s wrong with it?”
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, BUT your life could be so much better.
Let’s imagine that you don’t need money, what would you do with your time?
That’s a hard question, right?
That’s because you’re wasting so much time on useless activities. You forgot or maybe you didn’t even know, how to use your time doing productive things.
“What productive things, I don’t have time, I’m working, remember?”
Alright, let’s settle this “I don’t have time” thing I keep hearing.
You sleep 8 hours, work 8 + 2 on spent on the way to work, let’s say. That’s 18 hours, you still have 6. What are you doing in those 6 hours?
TikTok/Instagram/making food/watching TV/just lying in bed.
I don’t understand, HOW IS THAT A LIFE?
I really want people to realize that we have one life, we can’t spend it like this: work, sleep, home, waste time, repeat.
“What did you smoke before you wrote this? I need money, how can I get it other way?”
1. I don’t smoke.
2. That’s up to you to figure out.
“Oh yeah, great answer!”
The best outcome would be, to make money from your passion. Unfortunately, in most cases, the passion doesn’t pay well.
There are some people who say: “Do what you’re passionate about, do it to the best of your ability and money will come.” There are others who say: “Follow the money! See what pays well and find a way to do that.”
Do you know what might work?
Taking a risk, learning new things, acquiring new skills, finding a mentor and actually doing something with your life.
“Wait a minute, who are you to judge me?”
I’m not judging you, I want people to be fulfilled, not happy, because happiness is fleeting and at times, it’s hard to maintain. On top of this, if you’re fulfilled with your life, you’ll become an inspiration for those around you and they might start making some good changes.
Fulfilled life
My ultimate goal is to live a fulfilled life, I want that when I’m 80 years old and look back on my life to be satisfied of what I accomplished; changed a few lives and helped some people in the process. I want that old grumpy dude to be proud of me.
I’m working on it, I need to make things happen,?I just can’t just live a normal life.
If I still had my comfort zone, I couldn’t have aimed for this goal.
Maybe this doesn’t sound like you and that’s ok. I ask you to really think about this:
1. What’s your ultimate goal?
2. What would it mean for you to live a fulfilled life?
3. Are you sure this is what you want?
4. What is the first step that you can take now?
5. What’s something that you’re doing that you shouldn’t do?
Answer these questions and start making some changes in your life.
Let’s assume your answers will be these:
1. To have a lot of money.
2. Travel the world, do whatever I want and when I want.
3. Yes, I’m sure.
4. Find a way to make more money.
5. Spend too much time on Tik Tok.
How can I make it happen?
Gain some skills that pay more money. Invest in… well for this you have to research, I’m not a financial adviser.
Start your own business, work hard, put in the effort and get it off the ground. Automate a lot of the processes and outsource if you need to. Nowadays, there are AIs for pretty much anything, find a way to use them to your advantage.
Don’t expect to succeed from the start, just keep going; fail and go again, fail and go again.
Make sure you’re chasing the right things before you realize that you lost a lot of time on something that you shouldn’t have.