Thinking about risk
Clearly there can be too much risk: some things with potentially big upsides can be too risky to take on. But can can there be too little risk?
If you totally eliminate risk you’ll never lose big, but you’ll never win big either. It’s an opportunity cost. While you were staying safe, you could have been taking risk and succeeding. Instead, you’ll have to satisfy youself with the results of safe – which are never as good as the results of risk. The downside? You have to be willing to fail.
This applies pretty much everywhere. If you try to eliminate the risk of failure, you’ll never climb that mountain, ditch that job, ask that girl out, or build the Next Big Thing.
I’m not saying you should never cover your arse: just that you need to hang it out a little bit now and then. And be willing to occasionally get spanked.