Have you ever wondered if your risk tolerance could affect your happiness? We often hear people say: « you should get out of your comfort zone ». I always felt like something was wrong with this expression. For me, it meant a big jump into the unknown. A scary, risky and bold move. But in reality, it’s rarely the case. When we see people do impressive or unreachable things, most of the time, they prepared. Step by step, they focused on extending their comfort zone while gaining confidence in the process. It’s only after a while that they get to a point where they have enough confidence to do this bold move that everyone will notice and remember. A risk is nothing but the perception, at a given point in time, of a situation through the prism of your experience and your knowledge.
Smart luck is a mindset. For things to happen, we need to create space for serendipity and accept that the unexpected happens all the time. As Einstein beautifully put it: « The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results ». Many opportunities arise from the unexpected, but we all have the power to create the unexpected by changing the way we interact with the world. Sit at the table you never dared to sit, ask a question the way you never formulated it before or get involved in an activity you always overlooked. And most of all, leave room for the unexpected to happen.
Being busy versus being productive, such an interesting topic. I like how Shaan Puri sees it from a different perspective. And you, are you really working on the right things?
From our earliest childhood we hear how selfish we can be, but we are rarely taught how to think about ourselves. And yet, getting to know ourselves is a key factor to better understand and manage our relationship with others. Counter intuitive but so true at so many levels.
Having worked in a startup environment I often heard: « if you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late ». I agree with this but, as human beings, I don’t believe we work the same way as startup products like Alain de Botton is putting it in a Tweet. In the process of growing, I will fail, be uncomfortable or feel dumb, but I will always cheer my past self from last year for having the courage to do things. Don’t feel embarrassed, be yourself and be proud.
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1. Happiness and risk tolerance
Have you ever wondered if your risk tolerance could affect your happiness? We often hear people say: « you should get out of your comfort zone ». I always felt like something was wrong with this expression. For me, it meant a big jump into the unknown. A scary, risky and bold move. But in reality, it’s rarely the case. When we see people do impressive or unreachable things, most of the time, they prepared. Step by step, they focused on extending their comfort zone while gaining confidence in the process. It’s only after a while that they get to a point where they have enough confidence to do this bold move that everyone will notice and remember. A risk is nothing but the perception, at a given point in time, of a situation through the prism of your experience and your knowledge.