There is a concept in Nassim Taleb’s work called The Turkey Problem. Consider a turkey being raised on a farm.
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Day 1: The farmer feeds it. The turkey thinks, “The farmer loves me.”
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Day 100: The farmer feeds it. The turkey thinks, “My life is stable and safe.”
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Day 1000: The turkey is fat, happy, and 100% convinced of its safety.
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Day 1001: Thanksgiving.
The Illusion of the Steady Line
Most people chase “Safety” in the form of a steady paycheck and a routine. They want the graph of their life to be a flat line. But in a volatile world, a flat line is not stability; it is suppressed volatility. You are accumulating hidden risk.
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You stay in a job where you don’t learn new skills (The “Safe” Zone).
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When the layoff happens (and it always does), you are obsolete. You are the turkey.
True Safety = Controlled Volatility
The Sovereign seeks Antifragility. You want a life that looks like a heartbeat (ups and downs), not a flatline.
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The Entrepreneur/Freelancer:
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Daily Reality: Chaos. Clients fire you. Deals fail.
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The Benefit: You get “vaccinated” against failure every day. If one client leaves, you don’t die. You are adaptable.
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The Company Man:
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Daily Reality: Calm. Coffee breaks. Meetings.
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The Risk: You have a “Bus Factor” of 1. If the boss changes, you are dead.
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The Protocol: Injecting Chaos
To escape the Safety Trap, you must voluntarily inject small doses of risk into your life.
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The Side Project: Start something that might fail. The failure teaches you resilience.
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The Cold Pitch: Reach out to someone “out of your league.” Rejection toughens your skin.
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The Skill Pivot: Learn a skill that has nothing to do with your current job. (Diversify your asset base).
#DhandheKaFunda: If your life has zero surprises, watch out. The only thing with zero volatility is a corpse. Or a Thanksgiving Turkey.