You Can’t be a Winner If You are Afraid to Take Risks

A risk is a stepping stone to success. People who keep in their cocoons, fearing to fall off the cliffs of their objective situations are those who will never discover the fruits that are on the other side of the valley. Some of the most successful men in the world are those who made big risks not just to their lives but to their moneys as well.

The snake Diamond Story

A story is told of a very rich man in my home area who got his wealth by sticking out his neck against a life and death situation. He was walking home one day from a local market when he came to a forest close to his home where an unusual light was shining. It was the brightest light he had ever seen. Spurred by curiosity, he walked over to the forest and to his disbelief; he saw a huge viper-like snake feasting on insects attracted to this light. It was a spectacle like none any other he had seen before. What was giving such a bright light was Snake diamond.

The next day he told an elder about his experience and as they shared views on this strange light, the elder told him that what he had seen was snake diamond and if he could land his hands on this light, he would never be poor again. This idea that his poverty would end with this light invigorated the young man to take the biggest risk of his life. For one week, he would stealthily sneak to this area and study the feeding habits of the viper, noting how far it moved from the source of light and  its level of concentration about the safety of the light. Once he was well versed with this data, the young man got his sports bike, dressed up in heavy protective wear including boots and went back to the forest. He timed the right moment to jump at the snake diamond light, grabbed it and made the greatest run of his life.

He was lucky to get to his sport bike in time to escape with the snake diamond. The snake gave him a truly deadly chase with heavy hissing as the chase went on. But the young man managed to get away with the snake diamond. The next day, the snake was found dead, it had committed suicide by its own venom when it became clear that its light had been stolen. The young man on his part made off to the city immediately, where he sold the snake diamond in the black market for close to $10,000 in the 1960s. This was a lot of money at this time. He made a lot of investments which made him wealthy throughout his life. He bequeathed his wealth to his children who are still rich to this day.    

Lessons about Risks

The experience of this man’s way to wealth and success is the kind that a great philosopher,  Max Steingart once emphasized about…” You can’t be a winner if you are afraid to lose”! Many people have lost tons of money trying to get success in all forms of businesses. Those who gave up after may failures turned out to be the real losers, but those who continued to risk eventually  hit the jack-pot because while they continued to try, they moved nearer to success and the law of averages kept shifting to their sides.

Every wrong attempt to success is another step forward and experience has shown that people who make no mistakes usually don’t make anything. Mistakes are stepping stones to success and installment payments to victory. The winning spirit is for one to make his/her mind not merely to overcome a thousand obstacles, but to win in spite of a thousand defeats.