(Quotes are capsules of information, reinforcement or enlightenment.)

 

“All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger, but in calculating risk and acting decisively.

Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.”

Niccolo Machiavelli, from The Prince

“[A mistake of ambition] is the result of a decision to act — to do something. This type of mistake is made with incomplete information, as it’s impossible to have all the facts beforehand. This is to be encouraged. Fortune favors the bold.

[The other kind of mistake] is the result of sloth — to not do something — wherein we refuse to change a bad situation out of fear, despite having all the facts. This is how learning experiences become terminal punishments, bad relationships become bad marriages, and poor job choices become lifelong prison sentences.”

Timothy Ferriss, from The 4-Hour Workweek

 

Coaching Point: Act? Or not?

 

Copyright 2009 Steve Straus. All rights reserved.