The fear of being scammed, of being taken for a fool, is a powerful inhibitor. It keeps us safe, certainly, but it also keeps us small. In a world that rewards bold action and rapid learning, the paralysis of caution can be the most expensive mistake of all. Sometimes, to truly learn the landscape of a new venture—be it a business, an investment, or a creative project—you have to be willing to pay the tuition of experience. This tuition might come in the form of a failed project, a bad investment, or yes, even a small, calculated loss to a “scam.”The key, however, lies in a critical distinction: betting on yourself versus betting on a miracle.
The Real Cost of Inaction
The greatest risk is often the risk not taken. When we refuse to engage with a new market, a new technology, or a new idea out of fear of failure, we are guaranteeing a zero-sum outcome: zero loss, but also zero growth. The lessons that propel us forward—the nuances of a market, the red flags of a bad deal, the true cost of a service—are rarely found in textbooks or free webinars. They are written in the ledger of personal experience.
This is where the concept of a calculated risk becomes vital. A calculated risk is not a blind leap; it is an experiment with a defined, affordable downside [1]. It is a bet on your own ability to process the outcome, learn from it, and apply that knowledge to the next, larger opportunity.
If you are starting a business, you might pay a questionable marketing guru $500 for a course that turns out to be worthless. That $500 is not a loss; it is tuition. It taught you how to spot a low-value offering, what kind of language to avoid, and the precise questions to ask the next time. You paid for a lesson in discernment.
The Scammer’s Best Friend: Greed
The moment a calculated risk transforms into a catastrophic mistake is the moment greed enters the equation. Scams do not thrive because people are foolish; they thrive because greed clouds judgment [2].
Greed is the irrational pursuit of an impossible return—the “get rich quick” scheme that promises 10x returns with zero effort. It is the voice that whispers, “This is too good to be true, but what if it’s true just this once for me?” This desire for quick, substantial gain bypasses the critical thinking that defines a calculated risk [3].
Calculated Risk (Betting on Yourself)Greed (Betting on a Miracle)
Motive: Learning, testing, and gathering data.
Motive: Instant, effortless, and outsized financial gain.
Mindset: Growth mindset; failure is feedback [4].Mindset: Fixed mindset; focused only on the immediate win.
Downside: Defined and affordable (e.g., $500).
Downside: Undefined and potentially catastrophic (e.g., life savings).Focus: The process and the lesson learned.
Focus: The outcome and the promised reward.When you are scammed because of greed, the lesson is simple but brutal: you were betting on the system being rigged in your favor, and you lost. When you take a calculated risk and fail, you were betting on your ability to learn, and you won the lesson.
The Asset That Cannot Be Scammed Away
The true asset you build through calculated risk-taking is not money; it is discernment.
Every time you take a small, measured risk and it doesn’t pay off, you are building an internal database of red flags, market realities, and human behavior. This knowledge is an asset that cannot be scammed away, stolen, or devalued by the market. It is the foundation of a successful growth mindset, where failures are reframed as essential data points [5].
So, don’t be afraid to put a small amount of money or time on the line to test a hypothesis. Don’t be afraid to fail small to learn big. Just make sure you check your motives at the door. If the voice in your head is whispering about easy millions, step back. If it’s saying, “I’m going to try this, and no matter what happens, I will learn something valuable,” then you are betting on the right person: yourself.
References
[1] Rutgers University. Take Calculated Risks and Conquer Your Fears. https://njaes.rutgers.edu/sshw/workbook/17_take_calculated_risks_and_conquer_your_fears.pdf
[2] RiseVest. The Psychology of Greed: Why People Pursue Money at…. https://risevest.com/blog/the-psychology-of-greed-and-money
[3] ScienceDirect. Greed: Taking a deadly sin to the lab. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214804319300618
[4] South Psychology. Embracing Failure: The Key to Lifelong Learning. https://www.southpsychology.com/post/embracing-failure-the-key-to-lifelong-learning
[5] Psychology Today. Failure Is Hard. Learning From It May Be Harder. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-therapy/202210/failure-is-hard-learning-from-it-may-be-harder
