How Always Playing It Safe Can Backfire
If may seem logical that always choosing the safest option and generally playing it safe in life may yield the best results, but this is actually a false conclusion.
Playing it safe is a natural tendency of the human mind to protect us from unknown dangers and threats. It is a form of risk aversion, whereby our minds determine that it’s just not worth the risk to try something or act in a certain way because we MIGHT get hurt in the process.
However, if you look at this logic, you will quickly see how this can backfire on you and actually keep you from living a happy, healthy, and successful life. First, let’s consider what we mean by risk. Risk can be anything that is new, different, or novel to your mind.
By this definition, nearly everything you’ve never done before, every place you’ve never been, every person you’ve never met is inherently somewhat risky. But, is avoiding this risk always the best choice? The answer is no. Here are the ways that playing it safe can actually backfire on you, leading to less happiness and overall satisfaction in your life.
The Dangers of Always Playing it Safe
When you decide to play it safe, you are avoiding the possibility of some unknown risk or consequence. And while doing this can keep you from getting physically hurt or protect you from emotional harm, it can also harm you in many ways.
For example, playing it safe can lead to staying in a relationship or at a job that is not satisfying to you. Because you fear the unknown of a new career opportunity, a new partner, or life on your own, you may stay in a situation that isn’t terribly satisfying for a long time rather than find something that makes you happier.
Playing it safe can often leads to letting go of your dreams or deferring to the goals of others in favor of what you really want in life. Wouldn’t it be terribly sad to get the end of your life and look back to realize you never accomplished what you truly wanted because it was easier to play it safe in life?
Playing it safe leads to saying “no” a lot more than saying “yes” in life, which means you miss out on a lot of valuable opportunities. You may miss out on true happiness or adventure because you were too scared to take a chance on the unknown. Playing it safe may protect you from possible harm but it will not lead to reaping great rewards, either.
The Power of the Status Quo
Our brains are naturally wired to seek homeostasis, to crave regularity. We naturally are more drawn toward maintaining the status quo rather than trying something new, which could result in bigger gains. Our minds see this as avoiding loss rather than gaining something, and it keeps us focused on maintaining what we have rather than building something better or new.
This mindset, though, means you will soon stop learning and growing, your life will continue to stay only the same, never to get any better. It also means you risk becoming redundant in your job, that you are living a life controlled by fear, and that avoiding mistakes is more important to you than learning from your failures to improve your life.
Instead of playing it safe, though, you can learn to embrace what taking chances can do for your life.
You can learn from your mistakes, take advantage of opportunities that come your way, pursue any dream you set your mind toward, and achieve more of what you want in life.
Playing it safe leads to a boring, predictable life, so why not take more chances and really start living? After all, you only get one chance at living the life you want.