A risk with no downside isn’t a risk. It’s a coupon. Expect to pay something.
RESILIENCE
WHAT THIS MEANS
If you cannot name what you might lose, you have either not understood the thing yet or you are looking at an opportunity rather than a risk. Real ones carry a price: time, money, pride, a relationship that gets more complicated. Knowing the price in advance is what lets you decide, and it keeps the cost from arriving later as a shock. Expecting to pay something is accuracy, not pessimism.
Before the next one, say out loud what you are willing to lose. If nothing comes to mind, look harder. If what comes to mind is too much, shrink the attempt.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
What are you calling a risk while expecting to pay nothing?
MORE IN COURAGE & RISK
- Sending the text you’ve been rewriting for an hour is a small risk. Not sending it is a small regret that grows.
- It takes courage to tell your parents what you actually want to study. It takes more to live with what you didn’t say.
- The brave thing in an argument is sometimes just saying “you might be right.”
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.