I think the most profound idea here is that there is a disconnect between “risky” and “dangerous.”

Every important thing we do carries a non-zero chance of failure, and sometimes things worth doing carry a significant chance of failure.

The key is that most of the time the consequences of failure aren’t fatal. We stop ourselves from trying because success isn’t guaranteed, which guarantees failure. The thing is that the failure of failing to try is not really better in any meaningful way than trying and failing.

I am so bad at this and need to get better. I remember not too long ago not applying for a promotion because I was scared the hiring manager didn’t like me. So what? If I had applied nothing would really be different right now, except the chance that I’d get the promotion. If I didn’t get it, I would still suspect the guy of not liking me. There was risk, but no danger.

The nice thing if you can push past the fear of risk: there’s probably not a lot of competition on the other side