When taking a risk, you can either be audacious or courageous

Has there been a point when you’ve decided to take a big risk to move forward?

Oh, yeah. There are two frames to this idea of taking a risk. When you’re taking a risk, you can either be audacious or courageous—two different things. If you have audacity and take on a risk, it means you don’t know what you’re getting into; you’re walking through a door, into a dark room, with no idea what’s there. If you have courage, it means that you know exactly what’s behind that door; there’s something dangerous, hard, and it’s going to make you really uncomfortable. I think you get to be more audacious when you’re younger because you don’t have as many experiences to reference. When you’re older, you know a lot of patterns; you know exactly what’s behind that door, and you don’t risk as often. In that frame, I have to say that I have always chosen to be audacious, even though I shouldn’t be. I have the courage to be audacious.

John Maeda (@johnmaeda) in an interview by Tina Essmaker (@tinaessmaker) for The Great Discontent (TGD) (@greatdiscontent).

Leave a Reply


× huit = vingt quatre


css.php