Friday, July 9, 2010

Go ahead ... be reckless

I'm going through songs I haven't heard on my iPod and I came across Alicia Keys' song "Wreckless Love".  Great sexy song about being reckless .... and that got me thinking ...

When was the last time you were reckless? The dictionary defines reckless as "heedless or careless" and the opposite as "careful" or "timid".  And when was the last time that anything spectacular, amazing, life changing, memorable, truly unique came out of being careful or timid?  Seth Godin had a blog entry entitled "Low esteem and the factory" that basically says if you want to do anything amazing, you need to have people who haven't "been brainwashed into believing that they're not capable", basically finding people who are not careful and timid but at times are willing to be a bit reckless.

Now I'm not suggesting betting the farm or risking everything on an untried, untested idea.  You need to be reckless in a way that won't have massive consequences if you're wrong ... because you're reckless idea ... reckless thought ... reckless path probably won't be that amazing win you think it will be.  But then again, there's a chance it will be.  And in fact if you're careful or timid, I can guarantee that things will be ... boring, repetitive, un-amazing.

So here's my question: "How can you be more reckless?"  What can you do today, tomorrow, soon, to take a risk, do something you would never consider doing, be just a bit more reckless than you usually are.

Tomorrow, I want you to do something reckless; something outside your comfort zone; something that you'd never consider doing; something that is not careful and timid, and see where you end up.  Do this once a week and see what happens.  Ask that reckless question, eat that reckless food, go to that reckless place, meet that reckless playmate.  And maybe you'll taste something truly spectacular if only for a moment.  After all those breathless moments (see my Swept Away post) are what life's all about.

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

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