Outside the Parameters of a Normal, Safe Life

The 2022 HBO documentary Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off is a fascinating biography of the skateboarding icon.

As told through interviews with his Bones Brigade peers — all trailblazers themselves — Tony’s life is a story of risk-taking, failure, persistence, and entrepreneurship.

Excelling to the top levels in any sport takes a natural talent and an uncommon drive to be the best.

In skateboarding, being the best also means pushing the limits of physical capabilities, which often leads to injuries.

One of the reasons he (Tony) has accomplished so much is he doesn’t think about the bad things. The reason he’s been hurt more than most people is because he’s attempting so many more things that they would never attempt. He’s going to take some hits. — Stacy Peralta, founder of the Bones Brigade.

Tony Hawk became the best because he was willing to fail and retry more than anyone else. 

But his success came with a cost.

Over the years, Tony broke his elbow and knocked his teeth out at least five times. He fractured his skull, broke his thumb, and broke his pelvis, leaving him bedridden for six weeks.

I didn’t dislocate my shoulder, but it went out and in. I rolled my ankles so far that they should have broken, and maybe I would have benefited more if they had because now they’re just kind of loose. I’ve had dozens of concussions, but only a few that were really bad, where I woke up somewhere else. I’m that guy people ask is something wrong with your neck? I’m like, yes, 40 years of whiplash. — Tony Hawk.

Anyone at the top of their craft made sacrifices to get there. Success corresponds to commitment, persistence, and willingness to take risks.

Steve Caballero, one of skateboarding’s most accomplished competitors, explains how he sees it:

Maybe it’s like not smart, I don’t know, but we forget about the pain and suffering that we go through to get to that next level. And I think it’s those people that are afraid to go through that pain and suffering that never amount to anything than just a normal, safe life. We don’t live in those parameters.

What is a Normal, Safe Life?

Most professional workers live normal, safe lives, taking very few risks. 

They follow a traditional education path, then work in skilled trades, corporate or government jobs, and professional careers for a few decades before retiring in their mid-60s. 

A salary is like an addiction, enabling people to maintain a comfortable lifestyle at the cost of 40-50 per week.

The addiction squeezes tighter when our families grow, and a steady income becomes necessary to cover monthly expenses. 

It’s more comfortable to steer clear of big risks, such as changing careers or starting a business, in favor of predictability — even if the status quo is unfulfilling.

But comfort and addiction might be holding us back from more rewarding endeavors. 

Over decades, a salary can make you wealthy if you invest first and manage not to spend it all every month. If your savings rate is high enough, a humdrum career may be the path of least resistance to early retirement. 

Besides time, a less obvious tradeoff is living a normal, safe life instead of living your ideal life.

For most of us, living our ideal lives will cost more money.

Ownership is how you get rich in America — either through owning a business outright, real estate, or stocks.

Stock ownership takes time to become wealthy — decades. 

Getting to that next level sooner will likely take some pain and suffering.

Like letting go of an addictive bi-weekly paycheck and unremarkable career to pursue a less common path of risk-taking, failure, persistence, and entrepreneurship. 

When Safety Becomes Risky

Office workers are similar to skateboarders in that they retire with painful ailments.

Injuries such as chronic back pain, knee pain, obesity, carpal tunnel, computer vision syndrome, and general stiffness afflict many due to the sedentary nature of desk work. 

Office desk injuries may not be as sudden and spectacular as a halfpipe aerial that catches the lip, but they can be debilitating in old age.

The perceived “safe” confines of a cubicle symbolize of the safety of a full-time job and steady paycheck.

Corporate, government, and professional jobs give us coveted salaries and benefits that enable a normal, safe life. 

But what if staying in a career you don’t love is the bigger risk?

What if everyone working their tolerable but suboptimal 40-50-hour-per-week careers is missing out on achieving their full potential to earn and impact their community and the world?

Employment provides many comforting benefits (steady income, healthcare, socialization, contribution to greater achievement, etc.).

But in return, you give away so much:

• 21.5% percent of your annual hours lived (working hours/year = 1880, total hours alive/year = 8,760)
• A part of your persona (“Nice to meet you, I work for Company XYZ”)
• Freedom to travel as you wish, disclose/share learned information, live where you want, etc. 
• Weekday energy and brainpower that would otherwise be pursuing something more meaningful

Admit it or not, we give a lot to our employers. The more they give us back, the more tolerable.

But the masses are starting to catch on. Just look at the FIRE movement and the great resignation.

People recognize that if they can reduce lifestyle spending and diversify their income streams away from their salaries, they can reduce or eliminate the required commitments to an employer — liberating time.

Put it on the Line

Another extreme sports world champion wrote an encouraging message to me when I was sixteen. 

Nine-time world champion bodyboarder, Mike Stewart, said to put it on the line.

Mike Stewart hasn’t led a normal, safe life either. Far from it. He risks his life for fun, riding some of the gnarliest waves on the planet. 

I interpreted Mike Stewart’s autograph message as a challenge to take the riskier path in life and accomplish remarkable things — to blaze a unique trail forward instead of steering the tire treads in the same old ruts.

Though I can pinpoint critical moments in my life when I put it on the line, few have influenced my career. I’ve nearly always played it safe. 

I’m content with the career decisions I’ve made so far. My IT career enabled me to save enough to reach financial independence by age 45.

But there’s always more room to put it on the line to achieve something extraordinary. 

A normal, safe life is just fine. But we should strive to live outside those parameters.

Photo via DepositPhotos used under license

Craig Stephens

Craig is a former IT professional who left his 19-year career to be a full-time finance writer. A DIY investor since 1995, he started Retire Before Dad in 2013 as a creative outlet to share his investment portfolios. Craig studied Finance at Michigan State University and lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and three children. Read more.