Success Isn’t Cheap

I was having a conversation tonight with a good friend of mine, and realized something that really sets successful people apart from those that are not.

Often times, people tend to think that successful people are just blessed with great luck, good genes, or other blessings that are not bestowed upon others. I will admit, success comes from hard work and talent, but there is one more component that is not so obvious. What separates ordinary folks from the successful is the ability to take risks. This can be in something such as taking a new job, investing, or starting a business. You cannot expect to be successful by putting all your money under your bed and wondering why you are not getting richer. I have never heard of someone who worked at an average job, put all their money under their mattress, and retired wealthy. The wealthiest and most successful individuals are those that were willing to invest, start a business, change careers, or otherwise take a calculated risk with the hope of reward. You cannot grow if you are living in your comfort zone. After all, if you do as you have done, you will continue to get what you have been getting, right? You would not expect to do the same thing over and over again, and get different results each time – that’s the classic definition of insanity. I am not in any way suggesting anyone should take risks just for that sake, or without the proper research – but rather, if you want to grow, you must expand your horizons and do something to move forward. If you do not take a risk, you cannot expect a reward. You must fully understand the risk and weigh out the reward, of course, but no risk means no chance at reward. You cannot simply walk by a slot machine in a casino and expect money to fall out – you must first put in some money, and hope for a return. In life, we can be much more scientific, and calculate the possible risk and possible rewards.

To illustrate my point – imagine showing up at this office, in 1978, and being asked to invest a few thousand dollars in this crazy new idea for a company – which was in a business very few people had even heard of, and was relatively new.

If you said “no way” then you just proved my point. The young man at bottom left is a gentleman you may have heard of, by the name of Bill Gates. That is a company photo of Microsoft, in 1978. This group of mavericks set out trying to raise a few hundred thousand dollars to start a small company, and ended up changing the World as we know it. A few thousand invested then would probably be millions, maybe tens of millions by now. But those who did invest were investing in an unknown group of young people, in a very new industry, with no real long-term history – personal computers? Bah – that will never take off – I don’t want to risk any money on something silly like that. I will keep my money in my wallet, where it is nice and safe. Those who did invest now spend time enjoying things like this.

This “toy” is a 414 foot long personal Yacht, called Octopus, which is owned by Paul Allen, the gentleman on the bottom right in the company photo. He probably had to take a risk by not taking other jobs that were out there, not knowing what salary he would be able to make, not knowing how long the company could stay afloat, and so on. He was willing to give it a shot anyway. Not a bad return on the risk, I would say.

Get the point?

B