The average ambitious person spends too much time accumulating optionality & too little time taking actual risk.

They compete insanely hard to accumulate options for the future, instead of figuring out what they really want to do & doing that instead. https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg/status/1082783328397230080?s=20

Like spending your whole life filling up the gas tank without ever driving.

This lets us off the hook re: doing the hard work of figuring out what it is we want & should do.

Even in dating, ppl are afraid to commit & want to keep options open endlessly.

Optionality envelops us

People pursue optionality (e.g. ivy league, banking) often b/c they perceive, say, starting a company (assuming they want to) is financially & socially risky.

But the bigger risk is not that you fail, it's that you don't get enough actual shots on goal to do something amazing.

Taking risks provides optionality as well, via learning & differentiation

If you go to an ivy league school or elite consulting firm, you're one of 100s of thousands

If you start a company, you're one of a very few who started it in the way that you did https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg/status/1043666107888885760?s=20

Many ambitious people, even though they understand this intellectually, still prefer the more conventional paths of accumulating optionality. Why?

Because they don't want to look silly or dumb.

Don't fall for this trap! https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg/status/1044093515863486464?s=20

Especially when young, accumulate optionality through the skills you gain, knowledge you acquire, and the unique experiences you undergo.

Accumulate optionality through differentiation, not conformity! https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg/status/1044094256850169856?s=20

If you want to go deeper, more thoughts on all these career topics here, h/t @sararahmcb for collecting: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fQ4BXPM3kcN2SZwKTmLyo6xueoBa9FunU11v97cJJo0/edit