This is going to hurt

My dad was a stockbroker in the 70's and he loved an old trading-floor adage which said: 'You get bold traders and you get old traders, but you don't get too many bold, old traders.'

When you are young you don't have too much to lose in life. So the conditions in your early years are just perfect to take bold, audacious steps into the future. If things don't work out the way you dreamed of at first, there's still lots of time to get back in there and have another go.

With age comes wisdom, but so too increasing levels of fear.

Older, more established folk have accumulated a bit of wealth, a good reputation perhaps and a few battle scars, which mean that they're just not as enthusiastic about opening themselves up to getting their arses kicked by uncertainty again.

As levels of wisdom rise, so too does the demand for comfort.

Experience and past successes naturally lead to a certain 'standard of living and luxury' that is tough to put at risk. So as time passes the courage to change and take risks evaporates and with it the ability to innovate and embrace failure. In some sense it's a law of the jungle that keeps the evolutionary scales tipped in the direction of the younger blood in the human species. The old get fat and lazy and are ultimately cleared out by the young and courageous.

Make no mistake - there is no pain free way to be an innovator. There is no easy route to pioneering the new.

Innovation is a bloodsport.

It's guaranteed to whip your butt and hand it back to you no matter how brilliant you might be. To willingly put yourself in that kind of harm's way takes an enormous amount of courage and bravery.

To follow your dreams is to take on an incredible burden of pain and suffering. Why popular culture thinks it's all 'rainbows and unicorns' god alone knows. To chase the future that you want, to build something new that will change the world, is most definitely going to take energy and bravery.

Lots of established companies have neatly typed up mission and vision statements related to their future, which if we're honest sound like absolute bullshit. Using well-worn platitudes that nobody believes or gives a damn about.

Real dreams of the future should really be screamed out like a battle cry. A stirring call to arms; a recruitment of the best and bravest to explore the unknown.

The journey towards a proper dream is treacherous - you need to be prepared for it. But in this age of radical change the comfortable are in serious danger of going extinct. They're too old, too fat, too lazy and too comfortable in their corner offices and expensive Italian suits.

If you want to dream big, if you really want to create the crazy future that you so desire - then strap in, buckle up and get your mind ready for the uncertain journey ahead.

It's not for the feint-hearted, but win or lose - it will be so worth it in the end.