Risks are not risks

Levels of drive and motivation seem to vary greatly between us all. Some have bundles of it but direct it towards the wrong things, some have direction but lack the drive to get there, some have both dirve and clear direction; but it is not just motivation that leads to success, its also the ability to take ‘risks’. Most of our population is risk adverse but these ‘risks’ are not risks.

Last night I was having a beer with a close friend and the conversation turned to a mutual friend of ours. This mutual friend is extremely intelligent and a few of years ago graduated from a top university with top marks in an extremely hard subject. He now works at the indursty leader in his field; however this has meant he has had to re-locate away from friends and family. I was shocked to find out how much he was getting paid. Its was much less that I expected.

So the question I posed was why doesn’t he take a risk and change industry, or move to another company, work freelance for more money and a better lifestyle, or start his own business with this skills he has learnt.

(The point of this story is not to point out the situation of our mutual friend, I am sure he is extremely happy with his huge achievements and I know he will continue to go from strength to strength. The point is to hi-light the subject brought up by the response to my question)

The response from my close friend was that not everyone is like me. Not eveyone is willing to take the risks I take by being entrepreneurial.

So now I will ask a question. What risk?

Seriously, if you quit your job today and tried to start an online shoe store, what is the absolute worst that could happen? In fact what is the worst possible outcome to any decision?

This could be compared to the trap of the middle class’s as described by Robert Kiyosaki in Rich Dad Poor Dad, but it is not just a middle class thing. Its endemic.

For me I have always tried to look at the bigger picture. When you compare any decision you make to the fact that there are at least 100 stars in the universe for every grain of sand on Earth then you can gain some real context to your decision. (Thats a low estimate of 10^22 stars, or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe, of which our planet revolves around just one). Our lives and deaths, yet alone any decisions we make during them, are totally insignificant.

In fact just realising that at some point in the very near future you will die will give you motivation to make things happen and to enjoy what you do. Fear of failure and worry about ‘risks’ diminish.  I would go on, but there is a quote from Steve Jobs that puts it more beautifully then I ever could. This was given in 2005 at Stanford University:

‘Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

Because almost everything, all external expectations, all pride, all fear or embarrassment or failure; these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to loose.

… there is no reason not to follow your heart.’

Tags: Death, linkedin, Motivation, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Risks, Stars, Steve Jobs, University