The BOLD (How Brave)
You witness a great feat of courage—a skydiver plummeting from a plane, a parent shopping at the grocery store will all 9 kids in tow, a business owner making a pitch, the CEO addressing the board—and you feel a double shot of emotion. It is one part admiration, one part self-conscious comparison.
“When was the last time I…”
or
“When was the first time I…”
But did you ever stop to consider the gap between the courage it would take for you to do these things and the courage it takes for someone who has had lots of practice to do so? Today we consider what constitutes real risk and the need for real courage.
The Whisper (Might as Well Jump)
Suzanne Zeta participated in the television program Naked & Afraid in 2017. For 21 days, she survived the harsh conditions of northeast Brazil without resources. For most of her journey, she was also alone because her partner tapped out after just a few days. Suzanne knows a bit about courage and fear. I was privileged to hear her speak at the July session of Encorepreneur (a local monthly free breakfast speaker series designed to make sure that Boomers get out of their ruts and visit new places and hear new things).
During her presentation, she made a very provocative comment. She asserted that there is no such thing as a serial entrepreneur. Her logic was as follows:
- An entrepreneurial venture involves taking a risk
- A person who has navigated more than one entrepreneurial venture has learned enough to mitigate any risk
- The subsequent business ventures created by this person are no longer the risk that the first venture was.
- Therefore, only the first business venture is entrepreneurial.
I’ve had numerous conversations about this idea since July. Most of the people with whom I’ve spoken have rejected her premise. Even if you are familiar with risk, it is still a risk, they reasoned. It isn’t your knowledge or lack of knowledge that makes the venture risky. It is outside market forces, unforeseen obstacles and fickle consumers that create the risk.
While I agree with them, I have been captured by a deeper idea hidden in Suzanne Zeta’s theory.
If I only challenge myself in familiar spaces, am I really challenging myself?
Is it a risk if I’m controlling the variables?
Am I avoiding the places that require strength and courage so that I can appear strong and courageous?
If other people say that I’m brave because I’m engaged in an activity that scares them, am I, in fact, brave if it doesn’t scare me?
Can you wear the risk out of an experience? Is the 100th time a parachutist jumps from a perfectly good airplane as dangerous as the first time?
It could be argued that the likelihood of wind shear or mechanical failure is equivalent each time a jumper jumps. The jumper has gained experience, honed instinct and could have learned skills that could allow him or her to respond to danger in a way that diminishes the risk.
This means that the experience of the risk is what changes. The amount of courage that you need to apply diminishes over time as you engage in a risky activity.
Therefore, two principles apply:
- It is important to re-evaluate a familiar situation to be sure that you haven’t become inured to danger. Does the situation require more care and preparation than you’ve been giving it because you’ve been lulled into a false sense of security?
- It is important to find new challenges in order to stretch and grow. If the only risks you are taking are no longer risks for you, you will not learn new skills, develop new instincts or break new ground.
Here’s to real courage, real experience, real wisdom, and real, calculated risk.
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