William Lyon Phelps Risk Taking Essay

William Lyon Phelps quotes, “If you develop the absolute sense of certainty that powerful beliefs provide, then you can get yourself to accomplish virtually anything”. People amongst society may or may not find this to be true. Others may find more sense in Bertrand Russell’s quote, “I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt”. No matter what, there is always some form of doubt in the back of one’s mind. That being said, whether one accepts his/her own doubt, or is driven to overcome it, draws the fine line between people who agree or disregard Phelps ideals. People have to be willing to take risks, face their fears, and believe in persistency. Once these are met, people can achieve anything they thought before was impossible. People who doubt themselves may not realize they settle for less. Doubt puts people in a certain “comfort zone” where there is no need to explore outside of its boundaries. In order for someone who thinks it is time to step outside the “comfort zone”, he/she needs to realize there will be risks involved. Risk taking is a

Everyone, even doubters, know what the feeling of failure is. What separates the failures from the successors is mere persistency. Doubters lack the right attitude, and give up after so little effort. Doubters think they can accomplish anything they put their mind to, but when faced with failure, they find it easiest to forget it and move on to something else. Ralph Marston, writer and publisher of the Daily Motivator, quotes, “Doubt is merely a thought, when experience proves it wrong, it will quickly go away” (www.greatday.com). Experience is only gained when someone is persistent in what he/she believes in. Failure is the learning process that shows people what not to do next time. Then, and only then, when persistency and the gains from failure are combined, will someone know that anything can be