From Chapter 7 "Tolerating Risk: Being a Doer, not a Dreamer" from Ingredients of Outliers Pressing On To me, entrepreneurism is simply taking something you’re passionate about and turning it into capital so you can do more of it. Passion without monetization is called a hobby. I’m what you’d call a serial entrepreneur; I’ve tried (and more often than not, failed) at more businesses than you can imagine. (You may recall my hot dog stand adventure and others that I described in Chapter 2.) Although failing’s never fun, if you keep your mind open it will teach you more than success … [Read more...]
The Gift of Failure
From Chapter 2 "Fail Fast: The Gift of Failure" in Ingredients of Outliers An Early Start My gift of failure started early. As noted previously, despite being tall and coming from a family that encouraged sports, I never really excelled at anything where coordination, speed, or strength mattered, thus relegating me to events like curling and badminton. My sister, however, was a very competitive swimmer, as well as a straight “A” student. Fortunately I was adopted, so I could genuinely claim some form of genetic malady (I still do). In fact, genetics haunt me to this day. A few years … [Read more...]
Risk Taking: When to Dismount a Dead Horse
Taking risks is no doubt scary, there is no definite outcome, and there is no guarantee for success. But risk-takers are the people who make history. People who take calculated risks are often the ones who reap extraordinary benefits. Taking risks and failure go hand in hand and you shouldn’t be afraid to do either if you want to set your goals high. When it comes to entrepreneurial ventures, Dr. Shufeldt is the first to admit he has made mistakes, and some ideas have never come to fruition. But trying, and taking that leap of faith is what creates innovation and breakthroughs in … [Read more...]
You Have to Take Risks to Make Strides
The 7th ingredient of an outlier is the ability to take risks to achieve success. Here is a short excerpt from our new book “Ingredients of Outliers”: “ Entrepreneurism is simply taking something you’re passionate about and turning it into capital so you can do more of it. Passion without monetization is called a hobby. Pardon the vernacular, but if you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to get your ass out of the chair and roll up your sleeves. Personally, I can’t really think of anything worth achieving that’s not high risk. It may not be life threatening, and you may not lose a lot … [Read more...]