Life Is Too Short To Play It Safe

Life is too short to play it safe. When I was younger, I feared that I won’t get a job, or get a good job, or get a prestigious job. Those fears limit us, and it prevented me from pursuing my entrepreneurial dream. Will Smith said it best, “The best things in life are on the other side of fear.” Let me give you a personal example.

In 2010, I embarked on the adventure of a lifetime: hiking along an ancient and remote footpath, on a five-day backpacking trip to Machu Picchu. I’d dreamed of exploring this mysterious city for years. My hiking group included mostly seasoned hikers.

At the end of the first day, after climbing 14 miles up the “Savage Mountain” carrying a 50-pound backpack, I was already exhausted. That night, at 12,000 feet above sea level and temperatures below freezing, I could barely sleep. I was not only in pain from the hike, but also had headaches, nausea, and altitude sickness.

I wasn’t sure I could hold up much longer. The safe thing would be to quit and return to our starting point at Cusco City. But I felt that I wouldn’t be able to face myself if I quit. I reasoned that “if the Incans were able to carry huge rocks up to the mountains, why can’t I could go up there too?”

The second day of our hike was even more difficult, but my will power pulled me through. After hiking over thirty miles in four days, many hikers were content and elected to take a bus to the destination. But I and four others chose to hike the last eight miles.

When we finally reached Machu Picchu, I felt triumphant: the hidden beauty of this ancient city, I had discovered, is the long, hard path that leads to it.