Not this isn’t an article about gambling, at least not in the traditional sense. I guess in a way every action we take in life is technically a gamble. When we get in the car and drive to work we’re gambling that we won’t get hit on the way to work, that a natural disaster won’t destroy our place of work while we’re there, and so on and so forth. If you really wanted to get technical about it, everything in life is a gamble.
What I’m talk about here is helping to understand when you should take a risk and when you shouldn’t. To know when to say what needs to be said and when to keep your mouth shut. Essentially how to best manage risk while also understanding that when intelligent thought/wisdom is applied to a decision generally the greater risk will equal greater reward.
You can’t get so caught up in minimizing risk that you end up getting nowhere with no reward, but likewise you can’t risk so greatly that you’re constantly taking losses that you can’t afford. So how do you figure out what risks to take and what not too?
Risk & The Subconscious Mind
You don’t do a lot of thinking in a fight. You’re relying on instincts and if applicable training. I remember my first fight, well it really wasn’t much of a fight. A kid came up behind me and sucker punched me and then when it didn’t drop me he ran away. At first I had no idea what had happened only that there was danger and I felt pain. I remember being confused and then when I figured it out, a weird sort of upset rage course through me.
You know where your eyes water but you’re really angry at the same time? But the kid jumped in his buddy’s car and they caught away. A little off topic but sort of relates to what I’m getting at. In fighting so much is based off of instinct off the subconscious mind. And understanding risk is a lot like that too. Ultimately what you want is cumulative knowledge about life and how it operates and to base your choices off that.
Making the right choice is often more of a gut decision then one that is carefully thought out. I’m not saying to completely disregard sitting down and writing the pros or cons or anything like that. Stuff like that is extremely helpful just understand that at the end of the day you’re going to have to rely on your gut to figure out if a risk is worth it or not.
So what we’re really talking about here is building that “gut” understanding.
Building That Cumulative Wisdom
The more you can understand about human nature and how the world around you works the better off you’re going to be. One of the many reasons that I harp on learning sales so much. You may never work on a car lot but you’ll still need a deep and thorough understanding of human nature to get anywhere worthwhile in this life. The better you can understand people the better you can manipulate the world around you.
Hopefully that didn’t sound underhand because it doesn’t have to be. We’re all manipulating 24/7 every time we talk, think, or take an action, but that’s another topic. What I’m getting at is that most of your decisions and risk in life is going to involve other people and the more you can learn about people in general the better you can understand a wise risk versus a foolish risk. Understanding of human nature is paramount.
Then depending on what the specific risk is you’ll want to have specialized knowledge on the topic of risk. So for example let’s say making an investment. We’ll not only want an understanding of human nature but also as much knowledge about investing as possible, combined with as much specific data about that investment as we can get
Once that’s all collected we send it down to the subconscious mind and hopefully get an answer.
What’s The Worst That Can Happen?
There’s an exercise that many stoics talk about, can’t remember where first heard it, called negative imagining or something like that. Where you think about worst case scenario’s and see how you’d deal with them. You think about them happening, imagine it, and think about the consequences. What you’ll usually find is that you’ll be okay even in the worst case scenario, well depending on how wild your imagination is.
Meaning that often when it comes down it, but not always, it better to risk it. If the risk doens’t involve the loss of your life or others then I’d say when it comes down to it, go for it. If you can’t arrive at a decision and aren’t sure what to do, you’re stuck 50/50 between taking a risk or not. I’d say take that risk. It’s the philosophy I have in my own life and has served me well.
Have I ever been burned by it? Oh, sure, hell yeah I’ve been burned by it at times. But there are many “rewards” to it too. Things that I have in my life now that I would never have had if I didn’t have this philosophy. Ultimately it’s up to you but I’d take it’s better to risk than not.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
