Risk May Lead to Failure — But at Least it Leads Somewhere

In two or three years, my brother-in-law will either be bankrupt or a millionaire.

He will either profit from a complex set a business deals or go down in flames; nearly a decade of work and planning will be left to smolder on the pyre of What Might Have Been.

No middle ground. No contingencies. No safety net. Just Heaven or Hell.

Why would this educated man, a husband and father of three with one more due soon, take such a risk? Why would he pick a path leading to total euphoria or abject failure?

The truth is, when faced with the same choice, many of us choose a Third Way, one which guarantees neither pleasure nor pain.

The Third Way seems safe. A little risk, a little reward. It’s nice and in-between. The more you live in the middle, the further you are from falling off the edge.

But the Third Way actually leads nowhere. The Third Way disguises complacency with false security. The Third Way marks the beginning of your future’s end.

Not everyone can be a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. And risk should be calculated and thought out, not supported by a whim and a prayer.

But we all can choose to do more, to be more. You can choose to believe in yourself, because financially and emotionally, you are the only person you can trust.

The Third Way is a dead end. Risk may lead to reward to or it may lead to rejection, but at least it leads somewhere.