How Jim Carrey Can Help You Take a Risk

I would love to learn to dance, but my life’s just way too busy right now.

If I could do anything, I’d start a catering business...but I have to put my kids through college first.

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at writing screenplays, but I can’t do that while I’m working full-time. I have loans to pay. I need the job security.

I hear these kinds of things all the time - fears that have taken the form of excuses.

At the root of all those statements is this: “I want something, but it feels too risky.”

Don’t get me wrong - those risks are certainly real. I’m not here to downplay them. That said, I’d like to present a different side to the story.

It comes, unexpectedly enough, from Jim Carrey.

In 2014, Jim Carrey gave the commencement speech at Maharishi University in Fairfield, Iowa. His message was so profound that the video went viral. At the time I’m writing this, it has over 13 million views. And it had to do with how “playing safe” might be the riskiest thing you can do.

“So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality,” he said. “What we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect, so we never dare to ask the universe for it.”

He goes on to say, “My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him. So he made a conservative choice instead. He got a 'safe' job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job, and our family had to do whatever we could to survive.

(Watch the video here>>>)

“I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

You can fail at what you don’t want—so you might as well take a chance at what you love.          

To me, that gives even more reason why we should chase our dreams. That thing that gives us chills, that keeps us up at night with excitement, that thing we know in our hearts we’re meant to do. It’s not just because we’re called to do it, or because it’s what will make us the most fulfilled and happy. Or because it’s the only thing that will quiet that yearning in our hearts.

It’s because there are no guarantees in life. We can try to take the safe route, hoping it will lessen the risk. We can believe we’re protecting ourselves from disappointment by not pursuing what we want.

But the reality is, there is no safe choice. We can trade in our dream for something that feels more secure, one that doesn’t light us up as much. But realistically, like for Carrey’s father, it might not even work.

                  You can’t avoid risk and hardship, no matter how soft your blankets are, or how determined you feel. So you might as well take risks that lead where you want to go.

                  I’m not telling you to quit your job without a plan, or do anything reckless like that. Like I said, those risks are real. But many of them have workarounds.

By opening up your mind to what’s possible, you can examine the risks objectively, with an eye for finding ways to go for your goal and get your basic needs met.

Great achievements always start as ideas, little sparks of desire in your heart. Often, those sparks seem so far from our reality, so impossible, that we beat them down before they have a chance. But if we do that all our lives, we take the biggest risk there is: missing out on the life we’re meant for.

So let me turn to you. What do you want in life, more than anything?

What’s an excuse you hear yourself making?

What are the fears around it? (It’s good to name them so that you can address each one.)

What’s a workaround you might use?

Go out and shine.