By Matthew Piling

I’ve never been much of a risk taker. I’ve stood on the sidelines watching others fail—and succeed—in investments and businesses. I’ve seen ventures crash and burn, and others wildly exceed expectations. Sometimes, things looked tempting enough to jump in, but I always talked myself out of it, convincing myself that our careful, cautious approach was safer, wiser. It was a path of no pain, no gain—mostly no pain, but no real gain either.

Deep down, I knew I was meant for growth and progress—that my “safe” way was costing me forward movement. Yet, the life I was living—working 80+ hours a week between two full-time jobs, barely sleeping, trying to be everything to everyone—wasn’t risk-free at all. It just swapped the scary risks I refused to face for other risks that felt less threatening. But my health, sanity, family life, and progress in things that truly mattered were all slipping away. Risks we never actively chose had become realities because we feared failure so much we didn’t act.

Once I connected those dots and saw how our “safe” approach wasn’t really protecting us, I decided to be bold. After studying several investment options, I chose one and dove in headfirst. Turns out, the deep end was way deeper than I expected.

Wanting to “catch us up,” I invested more than I should have. Technically, everything about the investment worked as planned. On the surface, all seemed fine. The problem? Hidden factors I hadn’t considered—things even seasoned investors hadn’t expected—came into play. Authorities stepped in, froze everything to “protect” us investors, and months later, there’s still no resolution. While I haven’t lost my initial investment, I can’t access it, no returns are coming in, and the possibility of losing it all still looms.

At first, this felt like every fear I’d carried for years was confirmed. My gut reaction was to beat myself up, retreat into caution, and swear off risks forever. How could I put my family’s future in jeopardy? How could I ever consider investing again? I felt like a failure—an amateur who didn’t belong at the table.

But as the dust settled, I realized three important things:

1. Even though things didn’t go as planned, our lives didn’t fall apart. The world didn’t end because of one mistake.

2. Failure is how we learn. This lesson was bigger than I expected, but I now know what red flags to watch for in the future.

3. Every situation is what we make of it. At first, I believed a “failed” investment meant I was a failure, burdened with shame and regret for life. But even though I don’t know if I’ll ever see that money again, I grew through this. It’ll be a long time before I take a risk that big again—but because this failure didn’t destroy us, I’m now more willing to take smaller risks and invest in myself. With each small win, I gain experience. There will still be failures ahead, and that’s okay—because accepting that is huge progress for me.

What looked like a disaster—at first glance and many after—became the catalyst for my growth. I’ve learned to step out of my comfort zone and into my life. There is good in everything, and I’m going out there to find it.

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