How to Take Risk
Navigating risk is not about embracing doing dumb things. It’s about having a mindset that focuses on executing the simple tasks that winning requires.
Spectators, actuaries, nerds and losers look at risk differently than warriors, athletes and entrepreneurs.
They try to quantify risk by calculating odds. If 90% of the people who attempt something fail, it must be risky. If failure can be life changing, it must be risky.
But in order to succeed as a DOER, you can’t look at risk quantitatively. You must understand your task well enough to believe “If I do X, I will succeed. In the event Y happens, I’ll just do Z.”
That simple mindset has allowed my entrepreneur clients and super star athlete friends to succeed in situations normal people would assume require ice running down their veins.
But you’d be amazed at how well people think you can handle pressure if you can simply focus on the task at hand, rather than succumbing to the distraction of the ramifications of failure.