“If you want the most reward you have to take the most risk.” Jesse Itzler.
Opportunity is something that many of us too often take for granted. Living in a more free society there are a lot of things that seem to just exist for us to take advantage of. How often do our thoughts reflect on the events and people which shaped the world in which we live? We often hear the phrase “you can do anything you set your mind to.” This is very true, but it’s missing a key ingredient: risk. Conquering any feat takes on some level of risk- this is especially true in an economic world where someone strives forth to innovate in a competitive space.
There are countless stories of inventors, writers, entrepreneurs, thinkers and doers from throughout the ages, who went for broke on their ideas. Some characters lost their families, some lost their homes and money and some even their lives, in an attempt to change an industry, create a new product or even promote a new thought. Philosophers in ancient Greece lost their credibility and some even their lives for thinking differently. Robert Kearns lost his family and a good chunk of his life fighting for the rights to his invention of automatic windshield wipers after the design was copied by a couple major motor companies. Jeff Bezos, for years, faced criticism and scrutiny from a variety of folk for the concept of Amazon and it’s systems. Shawn White’s parents lived out of a van so that they could afford to keep him on the board. Jason Dyson spent 6 years trying to create the top of the line cleaning system, whilst acquiring 4 million dollars of debt and 3 mortgages on his house to produce his first product. Innumerable amounts of immigrants have given up everything they had, to come to a place where they started with nothing, only for the opportunity to pursue everything they could need or want and more. They were motivated to risk it for the biscuit.
The bottom line here is: no venture, no gain. When opportunities arise, they are not always an easy task to pursue. Risk gives us all a chance to grow, and we will only do so if we take challenges head on. Opportunity does not wait, and change never comes easy- especially if the outcome is going to be beneficial to humanity. Check us out as we discuss the importance of economic opportunity on the OTFM Podcast. Leave us some feedback and keep tuning in for more on the free market! Risk it for the biscuit!
