The section speaks to life’s duality, especially as it relates to risk and success. It underscores that the divide between the rich and the poor is often about the specific, informed, and sometimes risky decisions one makes (or doesn’t make). The argument comes through more cleanly near the section’s end, where the author asserts that wealth is more about a certain lifestyle and decision-making framework than a specific set of qualities or virtues.
The notion of “informed risk” is brought forth, proposing that only thoroughly studied and well-understood pursuits should be undertaken. This undertaking should parallel one’s preparation for a driving test. The necessity of continuous learning and unyielding commitment to the acquisition of skills and subsequent mastery is underlined as a propellant toward the rocket of success. The author pauses on the need to do what is necessary to “drive” the situation forward when things “go south” unexpectedly.
When it comes to real-world directives, the text lays out a number of different methods that serve to keep us all in a more pleasant state of existence and deflect the less-than-savory mindsets that can occur when an individual is confronted with a more negative situation. These methods encompass telling yourself to remain calm, asking yourself if you’re about to overreact, considering if you’re too far out of your comfort zone, and addressing the passage’s rather direct “you” head on. On top of these otherwise good business practices, the passage also hammers home a point about ethics; it seems that honesty is indeed the best policy.
In the end, the message of the work is to tell people that they are capable of doing great things and to reinforce the idea that one can, indeed, achieve what they set out to do if they pursue it with vigor and intention. Suzy tells her readers that all her life, she has been told by well-meaning people not to take risks. What those people didn’t realize was that telling Suzy not to take risks was in itself a risky proposition because risk-taking is what has led Suzy to be the person she is today—successful.
