“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” — Jim Rohn
I have one piece of advice for you. You can choose to follow it or you can ignore it. If you choose not to follow it, I might kick your ass. I might lose, but I’ll still try.
What is this one piece of advice?
I want to see you take more risks. Do things that scare you. Take some chances. Risk failure. Stop being a coward.
Don’t worry. This isn’t an empty post about hyping you up. I’m not going to tell you to quit your job tomorrow. You don’t need to slap your boss across the face before breakfast.
Let’s start off with a quick story though…
Remember our post on burning the boats? Allow me to refresh your memory (it’s a great story).
It was February 1519, many of you were not around yet, while Hernando Cortez went on the final leg of his journey from Cuba to Mexico.
The plan was simple here: hit up Mexico, conquer, and become super-rich! When the crew arrived on the shores of Yucatan, Cortez told his army to, “burn the boats!” Yes, they burned their only source of transportation as they went to engage in battle. Kind of crazy, huh?
Why would you burn the boats? The logic here was that the army would conquer their enemy, take everything, and come back on their boats. Well, that or they would die trying to conquer. All or nothing.
Let’s move on..
What can you risk?
“Anxiety doesn’t protect you from danger, but from doing great things. It keeps you awake at night and foretells a future that’s not going to happen.” — Seth Godin
I don’t want to say that you should take risks and then leave you hanging. I want to dig a little deeper.
- Time. Can you take some time to invest in a new project, hobby, or business idea? Can you use your spare time a little better?
- Money. Do you have some money to invest in a rental, a new business idea, or a new skill? Why not risk this?
- Pride. Have you risked your pride lately? Go out there and throw your pride on the line. What’s the worst that can happen? You fail? So what?
We all have some time, money and pride to risk. Why not give it a try?
What have I risked?
I won’t be a hypocrite that just throws ideas out there.
I used to always play it safe and safe always leads to failure. There’s nothing fun or exciting about safe.
My goal the last few years has been to get out there and do things that scare me. I ran a half-marathon, wrestled a match, bought a rental despite being clueless on real estate, focused my energy on my sites instead of getting a “real job,” and generally do things that frighten me.
I feel so much better when I take risks. This is why I want to see you challenge yourself.
[Check out: How I conquered my fears and wrestled my first match.]
Do I have to quit my job?
Nope.
I’ve said this before and will say it again. You don’t have to quit your job to take on risks. That’s the last thing that you should do at this point. I don’t want you to email me and complain that you have no money because you quit a job without a backup plan. Yikes!
Keep on working. Keep on building connections. Use your spare time to take risks. Quitting your job won’t magically make life better. You’ll just have nothing to do from 9-5 now. Freedom is useless if you don’t use it.
One last point (bit of a disclaimer)!
I’ll never be one of those goofs that suggests you quit your job or spend your life savings on something to follow your passions.
The harsh reality here is that you have to earn everything. Nobody owes you anything.
What does that even mean?
You need to build up FU money. If you want to quit your job, or take a major business risk, you must build up the savings to be able to say FU to your current job if you still want to have your bills covered.
You have to start a savings account to put your money away. You want a nice savings buffer so that you don’t become a nervous wreck when you first quit your job or take on a major risk.
Sign up with Ready For Zero to pay off debt. Make things happen. Get ride of your debt so that you can take more risks in the future.
Invest some money with Trade King if you want to take some chances or if you just want to see your money grow.
You need to start making moves right now. One day at time. Every little bit helps.
What risks will you take today or in the near future? There’s not wrong with being boring with your food, your routines, or even your job. It does suck if you don’t take chances in other areas of your life though.
“Because if you’re prepared and you know what it takes, it’s not a risk. You just have to figure out how to get there. There is always a way to get there.” — Mark Cuban