What is the biggest risk you've taken? Sam

Him:

Sam, this is a really good and important question. The short answer is that I haven’t taken enough risk, but let me explain.

I think about risk in three categories and I’ve outlined each below (I’ve dropped in a little advice as well):

Atmospheric Risk- Crossing the street, gas station sushi, working out or playing sports, inadequate sunscreen, calling / not calling your mom, etc. This type of risk is all around us and you usually don’t give it much thought.

Advice - Don’t waste very much time worrying about this type of risk. Use common sense and enjoy your day.

Pear Shaped Risk - With this type of risk, the downside (negative outcomes) far outweighs the upside (positive outcomes). This category includes drinking and driving, riding a motorcycle without a helmet, playing with fire (literally), eating tide pods, the Bird-Box-Challenge and so forth.

Advice - Usually this type of risk goes hand in hand with peer pressure and/or groupthink. Little to no upside and huge downside - think for yourself and take a hard pass!

Calculated Risk - This is the type of risk I think you’re probably asking about. The opportunity to do something interesting, important or exciting, weighed against potentially negative outcomes: passing on a partnership at a law firm to become a beekeeper, dropping out of college to become a stunt man, using your retirement savings to open a bookstore, pulling your kids out of school to sail around the world.

Advice - JUST DO IT!

At this stage in my life, I don’t have too many regrets, but I do regret not taking more risks. I considered applying to the FBI, but I didn’t - fear of rejections. I thought about producing short video clips using animals to re-enact famous movie scenes, but I didn’t - fear of being laughed at. I considered a starting a graphic design business focused on inspirational wall art, but didn’t - fear of failure (check out IKONICK, they’re killing it). I believe fear causes people to overstate the likelihood and magnitude of negative outcomes, at the expense of potentially awesome outcomes. When, in reality, most negative outcomes are far more survivable and recoverable than we realize at the time.

The point isn’t whether or not these were good ideas, it’s that I’ll never know. Now I’m trying to make up for lost time. We’re working to make this blog great. I’m trying to buy a well-known bookstore. We’re probably going to relocate in the next few years and we’re considering starting a small farm. I don’t know if any/all/none of these will work, but I do know I’m willing to take the risk.

Her:

The biggest risk I ever took-

May- 1996. Dad just graduated from college, we had been engaged for only a few months, and (somehow) the man convinced me to move to Dallas, as in -Texas. We were both from St. Louis and the majority of our family and friends were still here. We were going to be married that November and were in the midst of organizing wedding details and charting some sort of a life plan. But, dad got a job offer, and off we went. He was the only person I knew in a town of 1.3 million people. Needless to say, it totally worked out. We had to rely on each other for most everything but sure had fun adventuring through Texas for the next 3 years.

YEE-HAW!

The definition of risk is “a situation involving exposure to danger.” Well shit. As a mom, I instinctively say then let’s please NOT do that, and let’s go ahead and avoid exposure to danger at all cost thank you very much. But then, we get the mom reality check; risk brings forth change, change brings forth growth and growth is essential. So therefore, risk must be good, and exposure to danger is necessary. DARN IT!! That is one of the hardest parts of parenting, and I am terrible at it. But (flip side!) risk also may come with a reward, a situation that pans out, an unexpected outcome that made it all worthwhile. A small (or gigantic) gamble which could lead to an idea, which could lead to an opportunity, which could lead to a change, that could quite literally result in some of the happiest years of your life.