Stop Being Afraid by Risk, Think in Terms of Appropriate Risk
Elon Musk and all great entrepreneurs have embraced this notion.
Risk is a part of life. When you embark on a new adventure, and even more so when you leave your comfort zone, you take a risk or risks. There is no guarantee that you will succeed. Sometimes, it's even the opposite.
The more you try extraordinary things that no one has done before, the lower your chances of success. De facto, the greater your chances of failure. So you'll see it as too big a risk to take.
Many people admire Elon Musk as a highly successful visionary entrepreneur. Watching him masterfully lead Tesla and SpaceX, you might not imagine that he thought the odds of failure were greater than the odds of success when he embarked on these ventures.
From the fear of risk to the concept of appropriate risk that you need to understand
And yet, Elon Musk himself often reminds us that he didn't give himself more than a 10% chance of success when he invested his entire personal fortune in the Tesla and SpaceX projects.
Even so, Elon Musk stepped out of his comfort zone to seize the opportunities he saw in these fields. For many, that would have been too risky, but not for Elon Musk. Behind what Elon Musk did at the time is the philosophy that most successful entrepreneurs have towards risk.
For them, all actions that accomplish great things necessarily involve risk. There is no glory without peril, as the saying goes.
Their philosophy is based on the notion of appropriate risk. Appropriate risk involves two elements:
The odds of success are commensurate to the expected benefits.
The consequences of being wrong do not eliminate the chance to try another way to succeed the next time by taking advantage of the lessons learned.
When these two elements are present, you should take the risk. Indeed, you would be wrong to try something only if there is no downside in the end. Instead, you should choose your projects wisely where the downside is well understood and the work to be done is worth it.
The philosophy behind the concept of appropriate risk is what guides all great entrepreneurs like Elon Musk
This is what drove Elon Musk to embark on the Tesla and SpaceX adventures. The risk was appropriate in his eyes. If successful, Elon Musk knew he could change the world he lived in a lasting way.
If he failed, Elon Musk knew he would learn critical lessons that would allow him to try other ways to succeed. With this mindset, Elon Musk could only come out as a winner by taking appropriate risks. Either way, you win. Provided, of course, that you are resilient, learn the lessons, adapt, and keep going until the day you succeed.
This is how all entrepreneurs succeed, and this is how you can succeed. By embracing the notion of appropriate risk and taking action.
Some reading
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The 3 Investing Rules That Allowed Warren Buffett To Reach a Fortune of Over $100B - #2: The best opportunities appear when everyone is afraid.
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