A friend of mine recently ran for public office. He certainly did not lack for things to do and nor does he need the attention. He is a retired senior executive of a large corporation with a nice pension and plenty of financial security. He has consulting assignments if he wants them and offers to serve on Boards of Directors. But, he felt strongly about certain issues in his Town and decided that he wanted to do something about them.

He won by a nose.

Although he would not have admitted this at the time, I know that he would have been distraught had he lost. Still, he stuck his neck out and I admire him greatly for doing so.

We all tend to play it safe at times. And why not? We have worked hard to acquire – respect, money, privacy/anonymity, freedom. So, why put anything at risk? Our parents were quit clear on this point:

“Better safe than sorry.”

But sometimes safe is actually the riskiest course one can take. Safe generally means standing still notwithstanding a world swirling around us at light speed. Safe inhibits growth and development. Safe can even be the antithesis of smart.

Like it or not, we either grow or wither. By pushing our neck out from under a shell, we risk getting our head banged. But, by not pushing our neck out, we risk missing what is happening around us.

Running for public office is not safe – it risks rejection. There are lots of other ways people stick their neck out – some make mid-life career changes and reinvent themselves. Some people start new businesses. Some people push the edges of their comfort zone with new challenges. And sometimes the results aren’t great. Still, I suggest that the alternative – always playing it safe – is the greater of two risks.

The fact is that without risk, there is little reward. In fact, in a study done a few years ago, researchers found that when people were asked to look back on their lives, their regrets (by a margin of 4 to 1) were more about what they did not do, than about what they did do.

So next time you consider sticking your neck out, ponder a lifetime of the alternative. Safe choices tend to get addictive.

Jim Randel is the founder of The Skinny On book series. His latest book, The Skinny on Time Management, will be available in two weeks.