Kay:

Hey there, Questers and welcome back! Happy FriYAY! It’s September 18th, and this is Episode 185. We’ve got a Gary Vaynerchuk quote for you today, and he’s like the King of internet marketing. So…it’s a good one 🙂

Shi:

It is! From Gary V., who says, “Life shrinks and expands on the proportion of your willingness to take risks and try new things.”

Kay:

Now, you’re either super emboldened or you’re sinking into your seat right now…

Shi:

One or the other! Like, “Hmm. Risks?” OR like, “Heck yeah! This is speaking my style.”

Kay:

I want to jump out and take all the risks! Well, we love this quote and we’ve seen our mom, especially in our life, be the one to really decide to take risks. And, sometimes the risks have paid off and sometimes they haven’t. But, what I love about this quote is that Gary Vaynerchuk doesn’t say that life gives you happiness and unhappiness based on the proportion of your willingness. He says, “Life shrinks and expands on the proportion of your willingness to take risks and try new things.” This isn’t about everything being perfect for you. This isn’t about you going down the success path and finding the million dollars at the end and doing a jig with a leprechaun. This is about you expanding and contracting in your life by taking risks and being willing to get out there and find the novelty.

Shi:

I mean…it would be a risk – but I would do a jig with a leprechaun!

Kay & Shi:

*(Laughter)*

Kay:

I would also do a jig with a leprechaun…Is there a sign up for that?

Shi:

And then take me to the pot of gold. That would be great. Well, on the surface you hear this quote and you think, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. To be successful, I have to take risks,” but that’s not really what Gary V is saying here. Life shrinks and expands, right? So, like your perspective, your influence and your relationships shrink or expand based on the proportion of your willingness to take risks and try new things. So, this is not necessarily saying that you take every risk, or that you try every new thing – but that you have some sort of willingness to do that. So. “shrinks” and “expands” is the thing that we want to focus on here because he’s not saying success is taking risks and trying new things…He’s saying the expansion or the shrinking that you feel and experience in your life is based on your willingness to take risks and try new things, and I think that’s an interesting distinction to make.

Kay:

Right? Well, technically, everything and anything is available to you right now. Like, you might say, “I get it. I hear what you’re saying, but there is no way. I don’t have the money in the bank to go out and buy a Ferrari. I just couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t happen.” But, there is some timeline out there where you are going to get “Cray Cray” and go around and raise a bunch of money or do what it takes to buy that Ferrari. Because, the reality of it is that your options are limitless, and so – if you’re sitting in your house and you’re thinking to yourself, “Well, I can’t do that. Or I can’t do this” – it’s all based on your willingness to get out there and take risks. I think back to 2018, right after I had had Violet, when I really started onto my fitness journey, and I had to have a willingness to take the risk of going to a new gym and being really unfit in front of very fit people in order to start that journey. And then make the choice to go back every day for almost three years now! But, in order to do that, it took that proportion of my willingness. I was willing to take the risk and try the new thing, and my life has expanded in so many aspects beyond just fitness, as a result.

Shi:

I’ve been so proud of you in watching that too! And, as you said, the willingness to take the risk has to stay, even though you get used to the risk and maybe you wouldn’t call it a risk anymore, but it’s that willingness to continue to participate that allows that area of your life to expand so that you can shrink in other ways – and I think that it’s been really cool to see how you’ve developed that literally one day at a time, one risk at a time, one new thing at a time! It’s been neat to watch, and it’s been neat to watch Gary V’s success journey, as well. He has certainly expanded a lot. He’s an internet personality, but he started out as a wine guru. He did like a thousand episodes of his wine TV, YouTube videos. If you watch him or see him, or have not, you should at least look up a video of his because he’s one fast talking dude!

Kay:

He will cuss at you.

Shi:

He will cuss at you! But, he is a smart guy and he is willing to go try new things, and we’ve learned a lot from him and from listening to him. And he really and truly walks the line we’ve been talking about in today’s episode. And, he doesn’t just talk the talk, and that’s one of the things that I love about Gary V! So, to remind you of what he told us, “Life shrinks and expands on the proportion of your willingness to take risks and try new things.”

Kay:

All right, gang! So, today’s quest is a risky quest. That means you’re going to take a risk and try something brand new this weekend! So, get out there and take a risk! Sounds scary, but we promise you’re going to expand and find some expression in the process. Are you ready?

Kay & Shi:

Let’s quest!