Taking chances is hard, especially if you don't guarantee the outcome. Fear of the unknown can cause you to hesitate. Sometimes, though, it can pay off big time. Hearing about others success stories can be all the motivation you need.
Reddit user, u/Mckaos, wanted to know about those times when risk matched the reward when they asked:
What is your biggest/most recent "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" moment?
It Could Lead To Your Future Career
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Two years ago, I applied to a super competitive master's program. I didn't have the grades or anything, but took a chance. Ended up getting in after being placed in the waitlist. I graduated and I'm now preparing for my boards... anything is possible
Spousal Support For The Win!
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My biggest (not most recent) was when I got rejected from the nursing program at my local university. Wasn't good enough for nursing, which is very competitive to get into, but they offered me a spot in the faculty of science. I was going to decline.
My husband encouraged me to use the opportunity to work towards my lifelong dream. So we scrounged up the deposit to secure my spot and despite having a couple of very young kids at home, I threw myself into full time studies and earned really good grades from the get-go.
This spring I graduated from medical school and am currently having an absolute blast in residency.
Wasn't good enough for nursing, but I'm a pretty decent doctor so far. :)
You Won't Know Until You Ask
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Worked up the guts to let my employer know I need more time off work to take care of a family member. I'm really non confrontational so I was really worried about it.
Currently watching baseball with my dad at home
A Shot To Start It All
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My biggest was when I saw this cute girl at a resort bar in the Florida Keys, I wedged myself in next to her to order a drink and started a conversation.
We're married 26 years as of earlier this month.
Any more recent shots pale in comparison.
The Secret? Banana Bed
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There was this girl that I kind of fancied for a while from high school (A few years ago), and then one day just decided to talk to her and whatnot; got into a great rolling conversation that lasted days, and I did end up bragging about my Banana Bread. That lead to her wanting to come over to see if it was that good, and we just hit it off even better in person and she liked my Banana Bread and we've been dating for almost 9 months now.
When Probability Is On Your Side...
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On a school trip to the local community college for their "Business Leadership" day, I signed up for every single test (they had prizes) and ended up winning a full-ride scholarship despite only having 1/2 a year of Accounting I under my belt.
Sometimes, A Cold Call Can Pay Off
Cold contacting a company to see if they had a position available.
They couldnt offer a long term position but the few months I worked there on a short term project gave me enough money to get back on my feet.
Also my unemployment came through after that (where I live it's apparently okay to work temp or part time while waiting for the first payment)
Now i'm financially in a position to take many more shots to improve my life further.
Sometimes, You Just Need To Sit Down
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During my 2L year of law school I went to a lunch meeting in a classroom with probably 120 seats available and only 10 occupied. There was a really beautiful brunette sitting in the very back row alone. While it would have potentially seemed really weird to sit right next to her I decided to give it a shot in the off-chance she might end up interested in me. We started talking, introduced each other, and ended up grabbing lunch. Two years later I'm looking at engagement rings for that same beautiful brunette.
Reach Out To People
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Called an old buddy of mine in LA about a job, unhappy with where I currently am. Ask and you shall receive, I suppose. I am moving 3,000 miles away for an excellent job with an excellent company.
A Life-Changing PowerPoint
Not recent, but my best case of taking a shot. When I was in 6th grade I was a chubby little need that wore Marvin the marcian shirts. My first day at my new school I saw this cute emo girl but was too scared to talk to her. One day in the computer class I had with her we got an assignment to make a PowerPoint on sh-t we like, pretty much telling everyone about you. I was scared to talk to her so I just put some metal music my brother showed me in my PowerPoint. It worked though, she came over and started talking to me about the music. We've been best friends for 6 years now, even through all our moves we still text a lot, not as often as we used too, but that's to be expected considering we have a lot more responsibilities now.
[usernamedeleted]
Successful Slide In The DMs
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Found an old crush from middle school on IG months ago. Always thought she was out of my league, I hit her with a smooth DM and now shes my gf =)
Inked By The Great
I really wanted a tattoo from a well-known tattoo artist in Copenhagen, but figured it would never happen in a million years. A friend told me to cut the sh-t. I reached out to the artist and it looks like I'll be tattooed by him in 2020 (my year choice, he's not booked that far yet).
All It Takes Is A Single Phone Call
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Lady came into my store and tells me she's the new bank manager in the area. We talk and I eventually reveal I also do real estate. She tells me she has three houses for sale for about 160k. I tell her I will drive by and look at them, they looked ok and I told her I could make an offer in six months or so when I had some money freed up. She comes in a week later with her phone in her hand saying she actually has a total of ten houses she's trying to sell. She thinks they are all in terrible condition, I do flips and can tell they need about 10k in cosmetic work. She just wants to get rid of them so she says she's about to send an email to a guy to sell them all for 250k total. I tell her I will buy them cash by the end of the week for that amount. I call my dad as I know he's on the market, he freaks out and gets some money together. He signs and purchases them by the end of the week, then surprises me by giving me a 10% stake as a finder's fee.
Now I get about $350 a month for making one phone call.
Starting On The Path To Better Ways
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I guess I'm in the process of figuring out if the shot is worth it...
After a disheartening meeting with HR about my pay, I angrily went back up to my office and applied for school. I literally went to the local colleges website, pulled up its report on new grads, and picked something that looked promising. Applied because I realized I was never going to be properly financially rewarded working for a non profit in social services. The non profit I work for is generally good and while I was upset with the meeting, I realized no one else was going to pay me what I was worth.
The program I applied for was competitive and I didn't think I'd get in and if I did get in I probably wouldn't go... well sh-t, I got in. Even then I waffled on paying my deposit because I thought I'd never have the courage to quit my job and go back to school. Thought about it and figured I needed to take a shot. I'm not happy with my career and if I'm going to do this, now is the time.
Anyways I quit my underpaid job last week. I go back to school in the fall.
Defying Your Parents
I've loved drawing for pretty much all of my life, but was discouraged from pursuing it as a career due to my parents and other things. I went to college, became a programmer for a few years, and then realized that I wasn't very happy. Eventually, I quit my job and I'm now a freelance artist. I figured, why not, I'm young and I'm allowed to make mistakes. I'd rather think "Oh well, at least I tried!" if I failed than to wonder what my life could've been. After I told people about it, I was really surprised at the amount of support I got from my friends and from people online!
It's scary, but at least I have savings to stay afloat for a while and I'm a lot happier with my life now.
All It Takes Is A Ring Pop
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Met the girl of my dreams while backpacking almost exactly 7 years ago. We were both broke and in college, not to mention from different companies. We spoke every night at the hostel and went for a midnight walk with each other almost every night. The day she's leaving we joke about how the only way we'd manage to end up together would be marriage - "you'd only need to get me a ring pop" she says.
A lot of Facebook messages, Skype calls, postcards and even the odd fight later, I finally bought that ring pop.
We are submitting our visa paperwork in 6 weeks and I'm preparing to move across the Atlantic.
Wearing Diapers Out Of Excitement
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I was applying to one of the most if not the most prestigious college in my state which is know to be crazy expensive with little to no aid. I didn't want to even bother applying because even if I did get in no way in hell would I afford it without being neck deep in debt.
Not only did I get in but I got a scholarship so good to the point that I almost sh-t myself and called the school then and there to confirm that I am not dreaming and this is real.
Still can't believe I will be going there in 3 weeks.
A Father/Son Venture To Get Back Into It
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For the last few years me and my son have been planning our own business. He's 11 years old so it, naturally, is focused all around candy. Last March I was laid off and sent home with a few months severance. In that time we have finalized our business plan, obtained funding and on Wednesday we are meeting our landlord for the keys to our next store space. It's a dream all of us (wife, daughter, son and I) have had since he was in 1st grade, it's named after him and now we're going to do it. Nervous as all hell but we're taking a shot.
EDIT: A few people have asked so the name of our business is Sweet & Sawyer's Ice Cream and Candy Shoppe. Sawyer is my son and we're based in Fort Worth, Texas.
A Dream Wake Up Call
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Not sure if this counts but here it is anyways. I was working a dead end job at a hotel front desk after getting out of the Navy where I was a diesel mechanic. I got a phone call from a head hunter. I have never had good luck with head hunters but I figured I would give it one more try. I had nothing to lose seeing as I already had a job so I said f-ck it and went along with the process. The job opening was literally my dream job but I figured that I had no shot at it. I went through three phone interviews and one in person interview. I had worked all night right before the in person interview so I went home and went to bed right afterwards. Two hours later I got a phone call offering me the job at a higher salary than I initially asked for.
I start tomorrow morning.
H/T: Reddit