Abstract Thoughts

--Posted By:  Jay Abstract

One topic you will see me talk about frequently on this blog is the concept of Risk VS Reward. In my numerous failed attempts at the glorious life of a professional gambler, I was constantly told I took too many risks. I'm not stable, I'm too impulsive, I have a serious addiction... I'd heard it all. After hundreds of 2-hour long car rides home from Foxwoods casino back to Boston I finally realized I wasn't going to prove my risks were worth the reward by gambling.

At the same time, I wasn't going to settle into a warm little haven that the majority of my friends had come to accept as the "safest" and most practical way to go about your life. Make just enough money to pay your bills, eat a little food, maybe even have a little fun on a good week. The lucky ones, or the overtime hogs, squirell away 50, maybe 100 dollars a week into their account until their transmission goes and eats up their savings, where they then repeat the cycle.

As crazy as it sounds, I prefered to be the guy that was up and down. Sure, they never hit as low as I did, but they never got to experience the highs I did either. I had weeks where I didn't have a dime. I'd make up excuses and give up opportunities to go out for free solely because I couldn't afford the gas it took to drive to my friend's house. But I also had weeks where I was walking out of the casino with $23,000 in my pocket, feeling on top of the world. They never got to experience anything remotely like that.

They sacrifised the possibility of great things to remain "safe" from failure.

Now, this post isn't recommending you become a gambler by any means. I was lucky enough to be in my early 20's and living at home in this time period. There was plenty of room for mistakes. Not everyone is afforded this luxury, and I understand that.

But let's take this concept of Risk VS Reward and realize it is relatable to almost every aspect of our everyday lives. We are all equipped with automatic sensors in our head that weigh the risk VS the reward of everything we do. Is approaching the pretty girl in the club and getting her phone number worth the thought of being embarrased by her in front of her friends? Is it worth speaking your mind to the guy who just cut you off who looks like he'd be willing to throw a punch over anything? These are all risk VS reward.

And while this instinctive, subconscious survival mechanism of checks & balances is ever-present in our psyche, most shy away from a conscious choice of risk.

This is why most of us remain stagnant in jobs or careers we are miserable in. Honestly, how many people do you know that are happy with their job? And why shouldn't they be? There are 24 hours in a day, and human beings sleep 1/3 of them away, so that leaves 16. And with the average work day being 8 hours, that means we spend half of our waking moments in a place we are unhappy.

This is not how life was meant to be. This is how life was set up by those with more money and power than us to turn us into worker bees to keep the economy running while they soak the profits out of it, but that's a subject for another blog at another time.

The point I'm trying to make is to always push to elevate yourself. Not just at work, but with all aspects of your life. The age of the internet has brought us so many ways to make money that our ancestors plowing fields and milking cows could've only dreamed of.

Don't remain stagnant and miserable in something because it's safe and familiar. Because if you really break it down, it's probably not really that safe at all, and when it changes it'll no longer be familiar.

Always keep your eyes open for new opportunities. Especially additional income streams that don't take up too much of the remaining 1/3 of your day after your sleep time and work day. You're only as safe in your job as long as they still need you, and the job market and economy are always changing.

There are numerous people who thought they were safe only to find out one day they were headed to the unemployment line. And they're called the former employees of Enron.

Just think about it.