" Everything we do during the course of any given day is a risk because we don't know the outcome until it's been completed."

This week on Delay the Decay, I interview risk expert and world-record skydiver Jim McCormick, founder of the Research Institute for Risk Intelligence and author of The Power of Risk, about intelligent risk-taking, leadership, and mortality. We discuss understanding one’s changing “risk quotient,” balancing teams with complementary risk profiles, and how commitments like family affect decisions.

Jim shares lessons from skydiving—passion, preparation, delegation, redundancy (main and reserve chutes), and “no plan survives first contact”—including the year-plus planning behind a 400-person record jump. He advocates a “culture of permission” for innovation and recommends bolstering competence to take constructive risks.

00:00 Meet Jim McCormick

03:16 What Risk Really Means

06:47 Know Your Risk Quotient

08:48 Natural vs Adapted Risk

10:32 Building Balanced Teams

12:36 Founders and Commitments

17:02 Excessive Caution Costs

20:24 The Gift of Mortality

25:08 Skydiving Lessons on Fear

27:09 Why Some Compete

30:09 Find Your Natural Gifts

32:01 Inside the 400 Jump Record

40:22 Leadership Lessons from Skydiving

44:02 Reserve Chute Backup Plans

48:36 Building a Risk Culture

51:57 One Courageous Step This Week

55:19 Keep Improving and Stay Persistent

57:45 Direction Not Perfection Farewell

Thank you Jim McCormick for being a guest on Delay the Decay!

Find him on social media:

- Jim on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmccormick

- Jim's Website: https://www.risks-institute.com/

- Find Jim's book: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Risk-Successful-Step-Step/dp/1735617415

Delay the Decay is a podcast for unashamedly ambitious people who want to live healthier, lead better and love deeper by prioritizing what’s really important in life.

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Dan Harty is a coach, entrepreneur, and former pastor, who helps people build resilience in body, mind and spirit by emphasizing faith, fitness, and fighting the natural decay with daily habits rooted in biblical truths. Find Dan on social media:

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