Dare Great in Order to Be Great You cannot be an entrepreneur if you are not capable of taking risks.
By Matt Mayberry Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
I gave a keynote a few weeks ago at an Entrepreneurship conference, and when I opened up for Q&A, I received a question that had me thinking long and hard. The question was, "How do you become an entrepreneur if you hate to take risks?"
My answer was short and simple. I said, "I'm sorry ma'am but it's not possible." I didn't want to sound rude or negative. I had just finished motivating and inspiring a crowd of 600 people on how absolutely nothing is impossible, yet just answered a question saying the exact opposite.
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There was just no other way to put it. Not only do you need to take risks as an entrepreneur, but you must absolutely get comfortable with being uncomfortable in order to be great.
How many people do you know personally who have missed opportunities because they were too scared to move past their comfort zone and away from their safety net? I bet you can come up with a few without even thinking long and hard about it. Heck, you may even start to look at your own life and realize how many incredible opportunities were left to die, simply because you never acted and decided to take a risk.
Please understand me on this. I am not telling you to be irresponsible or to run blindly into the abyss of extreme risk without thinking it through and weighing the pros and cons. What I am telling you however, is that after you have done all of that -- just get going! Not only do most people not take risks, but they over think and talk themselves out of it when they're on the verge of moving forward.
A quote that I have lived by when it comes to taking risks and stepping out of my comfort zone is this one by Abraham Maslow, "You will either step forward into growth or step back into safety." I absolutely love those words and find it to be a question that we should ask ourselves every single day of our lives.
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We are either moving forward and growing or stepping backwards to what we are comfortable with. The only possible way that we can become all that we are destined to be in life and in business is to get uncomfortable and take risks. In everything that we do, the decision is up to us. Are we going to play it safe, or take risks to go after what it is we want?
Not only are great entrepreneurs risk-takers, but any man or woman who has left their place in history and done anything of significance during their time here on earth is. You simply can't be great by staying in your comfort zone just because it feels good. Staying in your comfort zone and not living a courageous and daring life may feel good at the moment, but over time it will turn into regret and a life filled with "What if's."
I encourage you to take a long and close look at how courageously you have been living. Where do you stand? We all could benefit from making the decision to step away from our comfort zone more often. It turns out that the popular saying, "Better to be safe than sorry," isn't always applicable. Instead, let the words "Dare great in order to be great" guide your life from here on out.
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