READ THIS FIRST!
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. – Helen Keller
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Safety is an illusion.
It does not exist in nature, so why then do we seek it? Why do we believe it is essential for a good life when in reality the pursuit of safety is what keeps us from feeling the most alive?
Look into your soul for a moment. Think of the mind you’ve got, the head on your shoulders, and the body you were born with. The heart that beats in your chest underneath all the products and the layers of everything that the world piles on you…and that you pile on yourself. Think about it.
Deep down, do you really believe that you were meant to play it safe? To stay in a little box defined by someone else?
Hell no. Deep down, you know it’s all risky, so why not just go for it?
You were built to be dynamic. You were built for challenge. For change. For growth. You were built for a wild, rich, spirited, heartfelt, loving, and fascinating ride! Not for frickin’ SAFETY.
When I say safety, I don’t mean seat belts and sunscreen. I don’t mean calculated risks or protecting your downside. And I don’t mean personal and emotional safety, both of which are essential to our freedom and well-being. The playing it safe I’m talking about is the kind that keeps most people living lives to a fraction of their potential. It’s playing small. It’s listening to the voice in your head that says, “Who do you think you are to want something more?” It’s sometimes delicately -and other times blatantly – hiding from yourself, or perhaps even outright ignoring who you truly are and thereby limiting your own greatness. It is what keeps you stuck and betraying yourself – however large or small you measure it – over and over again.
Playing it safe with your career looks like staying in a job that’s just okay or, even worse, avoiding your dream job, ignoring your true purpose, and never embracing your creativity for fear that you’ll be judged as too unrealistic or that what you create won’t be seen as valuable.
Playing it safe in relationships looks like allowing the wrong people to gobble up all your time and space and never connecting with the right people – the ones who lift you up and challenge you.
Playing it safe is conformity for no other reason than the fact that well-worn paths seduce us and feel easier because they have been normalized usually for no reason at all.
Playing it safe with your heart looks like never being vulnerable, never risking rejection, and missing out on the love you deserve.
Playing it safe in the shadows looks like never being bold enough to stand up and be seen as you truly are.
Ultimately, playing it safe is about fear. And fear is only optimized for survival – not creativity, happiness, joy, connection, harmony, fulfillment, or any of the gifts you have to give or receive in this life.
Because the truth is that the best stuff in life lies just on the other side of your comfort zone. The world will throw you curveballs until you learn to hit them…or you quit playing, take your bat, and go home. It cannot “give” you anything, it can only challenge you. Whether you try to meet those challenges, to dance with them in a playful game of discovery and rediscovery, is up to you. Your weaknesses are blessings in that they give you the chance to grow and be brave.
You may have lost sight of this along the way—decades of lying to yourself about what you really want in life, performative behavior designed to avoid friction and fear and anxiety can do that to you–but the opposite of playing it safe isn’t risk without measure. It’s freedom. It’s creating the ultimate game in one moment and playing that game the next. It’s limitless potential. It’s betting on you.
At first blush, the idea of seeking discomfort and change without the right tools and proper training can be scary until you realize – actually remember – that the tools you need all naturally reside within you right now. Whether you see it or not, you are brave, powerful, and wildly creative at your core. After all, you’ve made it to this point haven’t you? Your most urgent task, therefore, is to excavate what has been buried deep inside you and learn to use those tools again, because you have much more leverage over your own experience of life than you think. Your task is simply to rediscover how to use these tools.
You don’t have to start a revolution.. You don’t have to quit your job, move to a different country, get a new set of friends, or blow up your life. (Or maybe you do. That’s up to you.) But to create the life you want, you do have to make a choice between mediocrity and excellence, between what others want for you and what you want for yourself, between fulfilling your potential and hoping that whatever you’re doing now will be enough, between playing it safe and playing by your own rules. This is a book about how to overcome the things that have controlled you in your past and create a life you love. This is the ultimate creative act.
If you’re hesitating while reading this, don’t worry. I don’t blame you, but it’s worth considering why that might be. The good news is that we don’t have to go far to find out why:
Your attention has been hijacked.
There’s never enough time.
You’ve been taught to doubt yourself and ignore your intuition.
Constraints have always kept you down.
Play was always second to work.
You were afraid to fail.
And no one ever taught you how to build a practice around what you love most.
Until now. You started down a new path when you picked up this book. These words are for you.
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Introducing Never Play It Safe
For the past two years, I’ve been working non-stop—early mornings, late nights, and countless weekends—to bring you the book I wish I’d had years ago. I’m thrilled to announce that Never Play It Safe is now available for pre-order! 🎉📚
Well, if you haven’t already guessed, this is the opening to the book. It’s a call to action for anyone who feels trapped by the illusion of safety, urging you to embrace the dynamic, challenging, and exhilarating life you were meant to live. This book isn’t just another creativity or self-help guide; it’s a manifesto for living life on your own terms. It’s about tuning into what you truly want, unlocking your creativity to serve your goals, and transforming fear into a tool that works for you.
What You’ll Find Inside
In Never Play It Safe, I share a practical and actionable guide to managing your attention, trusting your intuition, and working with constraints. It’s about remembering how to play, failing gracefully, and practicing who you want to become. You’ll encounter brilliant stories from both remarkable and ordinary people who have crafted extraordinary lives, serving as a wake-up call that the tools you need to live your dreams are already within you. This book is designed to ignite a fire within you.
Who This Book is For
Whether you’re seeking to create a life you love, feel stuck or want to change, or are creative, entrepreneurial, or simply creative-curious, this book is for you. If you suspect that your comfort zone might be holding you back and you know that life could be more than this, then this is your guide. If you’ve ever watched one of my videos, tuned into the podcast, read Creative Calling, or learned something at CreativeLive, this book is the next step in your journey. All my wisdom, poured onto the page for you.
Join the Journey
So here’s my ask: will you please pre-order your copy today? Head over to chasejarvis.com/book to secure your copy and start your journey to living a life that’s truly yours.
Let’s do this together!
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