Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2013; the video’s view count of 2.5 million on YouTube is from 2013.
I suppose that if we asked a psychologist, they’d tell us that people don’t take risks because they’re afraid of failing or afraid of hearing “no” for an answer. You don’t need a survey to know that bold, outgoing people tend to achieve a lot more than everyone else.
Shyness and fear of rejection aren’t just things from your teenage years. They’re still very much present in adulthood, and that’s why many people never get a pay rise or a more senior position at their company.
At other times we don’t give our opinion or our own point of view because of what others might think of us. I invite you, for a while, to behave like someone who isn’t afraid of the word “no”, or of failure, or of rejection.
If you’re not happy with the results, I promise we can send you back to your old state of shyness and fear of risk.
I recently saw this short video that captures exactly why taking a risk matters, because every risk you take is like a scratch card that might hide a prize.
Singer Billy Joel was performing and giving a talk at Vanderbilt University when, during the question-and-answer session, a young student named Michael Pollack raised his hand and, nervous and shy, asked Billy Joel whether he could be his pianist for one song.
The audience went quiet and there were a few tense seconds until Billy Joel finally said, “OK.” I’m sure the young man took a huge risk, since as a rule music stars don’t usually agree to that, and if Billy had given him a curt answer, he could have felt humiliated in front of everyone in the room.
He took the risk and got his reward. What’s more, once he sat down at the piano he lost all his shyness and proved to be a true artist: he never once looked at the sheet music and amazed Billy Joel himself. An opportunity like that may come only once in a young person’s life, and this young man seized it.
The video in which the young pianist Michael Pollack offers to play for Billy Joel has been viewed 2.5 million times on YouTube.
Watch: Michael Pollack plays piano for Billy Joel at Vanderbilt (YouTube)
When was the last time you took a risk?
See also: How to create your own destiny
See also: The key to success with the Seinfeld strategy
Featured image: U.S. Department of Defense photo by SRA Andrew J. Rice, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
