Why WWE superstar Triple H believes it’s important to take risks during your career
If there's one key lesson that 14-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion "Triple H" has learned during his professional career, it's not to play it safe… but rather, do the opposite.
"Take risks. If you believe in yourself, if you believe in what you bring to the table, you believe in your product — take the risk," Paul Michael Levesque, better known by his ring name Triple H, told CNBC Tuesday, when asked about how budding entrepreneurs should approach the notion of becoming the "next big thing."
"Take the gamble. Bet on yourself, because if you bet on yourself, and you're willing to do the work, you're willing to put in more work than anybody else, you're willing to drive harder and engage more and never stop — then you can succeed."
Taking one risk is always a challenging task for any entrepreneur to consider and follow through on. For Levesque, however, it is important to consider taking multiple risks throughout your life.
"If you can approach it that way and take every day on — and I learned this from (WWE CEO) Vince McMahon — approach every single day like it's your first day on the job," he told CNBC at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, Portugal.
"Just because you've done something this way and it's been successful, doesn't mean it's still the right way," Levesque said. "Relook at it and if there's a different way to do it, be willing to say 'I'm going to forget about all of this and I'm going to take that risk again and I'm going to put all my chips on the table and I'm going to gamble on myself.'"
The world champion is no stranger to taking risks himself. As a child, Levesque was "such a huge fan" of WWE and knew he wanted to pursue the sport.
In a fireside chat with CNBC, Triple H said that when he started to become successful in professional wrestling, he became increasingly fascinated with both being in the ring and the behind-the-scenes element of the sport. Today, Levesque holds the position as executive vice president for talent, live events and creative at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
"From my life, to being a WWE superstar, you take all those gambles along the way to then saying I'm going to take a step back from that."
"I'm going to become an executive and try and do it in a different manner and try to grow the business differently."
From kicking off a professional wrestling career back in the 1990s, to the present day, where WWE sees Levesque "revolutionizing the business" with his developmental training processes and global recruiting strategy, Levesque concluded the discussion with CNBC, by stressing how putting in the hard work and taking a gamble can lead to life-changing developments.
"Reinvent yourself. Take the risk. Gamble on yourself and work harder than everybody else, and no doubt you can succeed at anything."
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