I wouldn’t really class myself as a brave person, or a risk taker. What I am though is headstrong, obdurate, stubborn, and compulsive. I usually like to call it decisive.
This normally manifests itself in committing to a course of action, rather than regret making no decision at all for years to come. I know many people who actively choose to perpetually haver (see The Proclaimers – 500 Miles), and never see through their ideas. I like to do stuff. Big stuff, small stuff, life-changing stuff. I’m not saying this always works out for me, or is especially clever, but I do tend to avoid procrastinators, who play it safe in life and never follow through.
I think it stems from childhood, when I was a member of all sorts of clubs and did many activities. Maybe I get bored easily. I certainly never excelled at any one thing, but became knowledgeable in lots. As an adult this did mean quite a few jobs before I was 21, and being very competitive when I started in recruitment. I joined the fledgling Search Consultancy when my first son was born (giving up band management at the same time), and left to co-own my first agency when my 2nd was born. Risky I suppose, but the decision had to be made. In business I’ve made some big decisions, and in the process made and lost good money. (I’m admitting to some stupidity here).
I commented on another blog tonight, http://goo.gl/RVd8e entitled Decisions, Decisions, Decisions, where the author, Mel, talks about her thought processes on the subject. My reply was this.
I can’t see how you could fail at the marathon. It’s very difficult, but very few people don’t make it to the end. I suspect the hardest part is making it to the beginning of the race. That’s the point of no-return, when it would be impossible to back out. Up until then, any number of plausible, and entirely reasonable reasons, could be employed to explain a change of heart.
I believe many of the most difficult decisions are made well in advance of going into action, but the hardest of all is to commit to following through.
As a friend of mine said recently, when you choose to go the extra mile, the roads are much less congested.
