There is a common character trait I see in successful people that achieve something of value: the willingness to step out and take a risk.
I know people who are in jobs they don’t like, but they’re afraid to make a change for fear of losing what they have versus the opportunity to gain so much more.
Many people I know are sitting on the sidelines with cash investments earning little to nothing because they are afraid to make the wrong investment decision. In doing so, they miss the opportunity for compounding interest, which will result in substantial financial growth.
One of my favorite quotes taken out of a speech by Teddy Roosevelt is about the courage to take a risk. I have the quote on a plaque on my desk given to me over 20 years ago by my dear friend David Mitchell who’s been there as my advocate throughout my career as an entrepreneur and has helped me be the best version of who I could be.
Here is the quote from the Teddy Roosevelt speech:
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly… who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.”
The sentence most inspiring is where Teddy Roosevelt said, “The credit belongs to the man in the arena.”
Stepping out to take a risk requires courage and sacrifice.
It is easier to sit on the sidelines and be a critic, but it takes courage to take a risk where there is a chance of failure.
Whether that is speaking the truth to a friend, with the risk of being rejected, making an investment where it may not pay off as expected, or changing career paths where it may be scary and uncomfortable to make the transition.
When I stepped out and took a risk in starting Fidelis, it challenged my faith, took some courage, but there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing God come through time and time again as we have continued to succeed.
A winning strategy doesn’t involve being a critic. It demands courage to take the risk.
The last thing we want in life is to be haunted by regrets of things we wish we would have tried and didn’t.