As the rapper, Flava Flav would say, ‘don’t believe the hype.’
We think we have time.
We get complacent.
We think we are safe.
But we’re not.
Most people live their lives as sitting ducks or turkeys as Nassim Taleb points out:
“Consider a turkey that is fed every day, Every single feeding will firm up the bird’s belief that it is the general rule of life to be fed every day by friendly members of the human race ‘looking out for its best interests,’ as a politician would say. On the afternoon of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, something unexpected will happen to the turkey. It will incur a revision of belief.”
I love Nassim Taleb.
Now we know what the illusion is and we are aware of it, what do we do?
We start taking risks, ladies and gentlemen, and I don’t mean becoming Evel Knievel, Harry Houdini, or bulk buying a year’s supply of toilet paper. I’m talking abundance thinking. In this year of the Coronavirus, we should be much more afraid of ending up like the turkey than worrying about the next outbreak.
Now is the time to take the steps that will allow you the freedom to ride the waves of uncertainty. And the only way we can do that is by thinking big. Unfortunately, we live in a time where average or, worse mediocre is encouraged or even lauded.
Living an abundant lifestyle isn’t just pleasurable, it protects you. No matter how sexy your streaming service makes, the prospect of mediocrity and lack of hard work seem. When the shit hits the fan, it’s the hard and smart work you’ve put in that will redeem you. We are seeing that today.
Many people are under the impression that they can’t follow their dreams because it’s too risky. After all, they have this safe position with great pay, a great boss, and flexible hours, why should they risk it all?
The risk is not taking a risk.
Even if you accept what I’m saying as gospel, I can’t promise we all will make it. The real world doesn’t work like that. What I will say is if you do go big on your dreams and actually get there, you are ten times better prepared For uncertainty than 95% of your peers. What if you never get to that big goal, then the process of you consistently striving towards it will equip you with a skill set 95% of your peers will never have.
Win, win.
What are you waiting for?
How do I do it?
Keep your job and focus on building a dream on the side. If your already self-employed, start thinking of ways of scaling your business to the next level. Simple but not easy.
So what is the goal here?
The goal is to overshoot on every aspect of your life. Not just career and money but health, relationships, and well-being. Take none of it for granted and think big in every aspect of your life.
Does it matter if you don’t reach your ten million dollars financial goal? As I said earlier, it doesn’t, but what does matter is you were single-mindedly working towards that ten million dollar goal because going big is your default setting. You’re better off going too hard and realising you overdid it than living an underwhelming life. As counterintuitive as it may sound, you need to take risks to mitigate against risk.
If we want to finally assign this pervasive ‘illusion’ to a watery grave, then you need to think in new ways. Let’s proceed by making average unacceptable and higher achievement the norm in all aspects of your life.
Dream big, work hard and make it happen.
