Adulting Part Sixteen: No Guts, No Glory
Fear was once considered the human voice of reason.
AI generated definition:
"No guts, no glory" is an idiom that means success cannot be achieved without taking risks and showing courage. It emphasizes that without making an attempt, there is no chance of success. This phrase is often used in informal speech to encourage someone to take action despite their fears or anxieties.
The origin of the phrase can be traced back to military contexts, where it was used to motivate soldiers to act bravely in the face of danger.
It’s a popular idiom.
I’ve used it multiple times in my life.
Once, when I was 19, a friend of mine wanted to learn to skydive. She was into all kinds of things then. Her favorite band was Led Zeppelin. She made her own yogurt. She dated a bunch of guys at one time.
Her nickname was Wild-lady.
Her favorite saying? “No guts, no glory”.
We arrived at the skydiving center just after dawn. It was chilly but the sun was coming up on the clear horizon.
They took the four of us through everything we needed to know. Wild-lady spent some of the time listening and some of the time flirting with the instructor.
It was a small plane as there were just four of us crazy enough to jump out of it.
The pilot was one of those guys you just stare at, quite attractive, good teeth and hair. Muscular. He was wearing mirrored aviator sunglasses which he removed before we took off. Beautiful blue eyes.
I was sitting the closest to him.
As the plane took off he asked me “are you really going to do this?”
The first two crazies jumped.
Wild-lady looked at me, yelled “No guts, no glory!” and jumped.
She landed on a golf course and they had to go find her.
The pilot looked at me and asked me if I wanted to have dinner.
He said “No guts, no glory”.
He said “if you jump, I’ll have to come find you, but if you don’t I can land this plane and we can just go to dinner”.
When we landed, Wild-lady was adrenaline pumped, she wanted all of us to go have some beers. I told her I was going to go to dinner with the pilot. I also told her “No guts, no glory”.
It was a lovely evening with the very handsome pilot.
I read a variety of writing here on Substack. I like reading the financial stuff.
I’ve been curious about cryptocurrency and there are several authors who are pretty good at explaining it.
It was this bit of writing that caused me to invest:
This past week, Microstrategy (trading symbol: MSTR) announced they will be raising 42 billion in capital over the next three years, nearly all of which will be immediately plowed into Bitcoin….Instead of Front-running Saylor by buying Bitcoin, why not join him by buying Shares of MSTR? The real beauty of buying MSTR instead of Bitcoin is it provides leverage on your Bitcoin purchase.
I’m very conservative with my investing. I don’t buy single stocks anymore, I buy Mutual Funds and ETFs (Exchange traded funds). So instead of buying stock in MSTR, I bought an ETF that holds MSTR in its top ten. It also holds other companies involved with Bitcoin so it could be a real winner.
When I purchased the fund, MSTR was the top holding and it is still in the top ten. Yes, I recognize the ETF will take a percentage when I sell, but what’s left is more than likely be better than letting the cash sit in a money market or conservative mutual fund.
I invested enough to be meaningful if it pays, but not catastrophic if it fails.
I told hubby about the investment who was shocked but amused, I told him “no guts, no glory”.
The fund is doing just OK.
It is volatile.
I haven’t lost anything - yet.
I believe it will do pretty well based on my reading.
No guts, no glory.
You’re seeing it in real time in our culture and in our government.
Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is a living example of “no guts, no glory”.
Canada as our 51st state?
Purchase Greenland?
Abolish the DoEd (Department of Education)?
Eliminate outrageous and excessive foreign aid?
Let the world’s richest guy have a look at the books?
Eradicate waste?
Horrors!
Is it Good to Take Risks?
Taking risks is not inherently good or bad.
It depends on the type of risk and the circumstances surrounding the risk.
But in many cases, taking a risk is the key to increasing your self-confidence and opening you up to more opportunities and experiences.
The risks we run away from usually aren't about real physical danger but they are grounded in fear.
Fear of people judging your choices.
Fear of making a mistake.
Fear of looking silly.
Fear of failure.
Fear of not being good enough.
These types of fears are emotional fears.
Fear was once considered the human voice of reason.
It may be our primal survival mechanism, but when we can’t see fear or when we feel it’s out of control, it can hold us back
Remember, risks aren’t all about jumping out of an airplane or betting a month's salary on a stock.
Calculated risks are what help you reach your goals.
Risks move you forward in life.
When we understand that it’s fear keeping us from taking calculated risks, we can see the true benefits of taking risks.
Risks aren’t something to be feared.
Risks present possibilities, and they can transform your life away from life that just happens around you.
Without a little risk, there’s no reward.
And that reward is confidence.
No guts, no glory.
As someone who was part of the early computing world, I often feel guilty about where that work has landed future generations. The potential of what the beginnings of the digital world could have been and where it actually went.
When I see the words “anxious” and especially “bored” coming from young people, all I can think is they lack confidence in themselves.
Exposure to much of today’s badly applied technology, especially social media has done this.
Like radiation sickness, too much exposure causes sickness.
Confidence is an attitude:
A belief or conviction that an outcome will be favorable.
Belief in the certainty of something.
Belief in the effectiveness of one's own abilities or in one's favorable acceptance by others; self-confidence.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
I submit, if you are confident, you are more than likely accomplished.
Accomplished means being very skillful or showing the skill set of an expert (but not necessarily is an expert).
Someone who is successful in setting and reaching goals set will eventually be accomplished in some way.
Constantly setting new goals for yourself and reaching them is how you develop purpose and how you become confident.
You can be accomplished at any age.
Where I come from, it was “no balls, no babies” - not quite the same, but the sentiment is there. Welcome aboard the MSTR train. The wife & I are irresponsibly long. We’ve been adding new shares lately with a DCA (dollar cost average) plan. It’s only a matter of time until it catches a bid.
Went skydiving in my early twenties, it was quite the experience. They made us watch 4 hours of videos on all the things that could go wrong, by the time I walked out of that room, I was terrified, but did it anyway. Although, if the pilot had been hot, who knows.