People Who Took Calculated Risks That Almost Paid Off Reveal Where They Went Wrong

That's how Shakespeare did it!

Every essay I've ever written the night before it was due. some-canadian-kid

Do you one better I would write them morning of. skysmurf

Stay Sober for Success! 

Alcohol was definitely involved, not even in the planning process, only in the execution which ironically is why I ended up making my flight. I can't remember the time frame, but I got up fairly early, catch a bus to the train station, and try to buy a ticket at a ticket machine. I then encounter the problem of being so drunk that I can barely read what is on the screen.

Even with one eye closed I struggle to decipher the letters, it also didn't help me that it was in Swedish (quite ironically since Swedish is the official Scandinavian dialect for drunken idiots). Anyhow I spend so long at this machine that I missed my train and have to take a taxi to the airport. Taxi gets me faster to the airport than train would have, I still almost don't make my flight. Had I not been so drunk I missed my train, sober me had been to blame for drunk me missing my friends wedding. jesuisjens

Listen to your Gut! 

About 22 months into my PhD I was starting to think "this isn't working, I should quit while I haven't wasted too much time."

I tried to stick it out and salvage it. I ended up quitting after about 38 months. Shoulda left earlier.I learned enough about my field (theoretical/computational chemistry) to know that it was probably the right decision to leave, although this happened recently enough that I cannot yet justify that with evidence. Hopefully in 5 years I'll be able to look back and know for sure

As to myself, well, I guess I learned that, despite what I thought in high school and college, there IS a level of "abstract but fascinating unapplicable knowledge for the sake of knowledge," that not even i can see the point in spending years of effort on. iammaxhailme

Find the Words....

Sitting down to finish my speech I needed to give at 2 today (30 minute drive) at 1pm thinking I'd have time to finish, practice, and dress my toddler and get him out the door. izziev

Beware Atlanta....

Driving to Atlanta, which is an hour away, for an appointment without leaving time to adjust for the traffic. SerDire

When Atlanta traffic is involved, nobody wins. Jehovacoin

Look out Below!

I thought I could go down the stairs 2 steps than 1 step, I ended up going like this Step 1 Step 3 Step 4 Step 7 Step 12 Step 19 Step 23 Bottom floor. RedDeath1026

When I was a kid I watched my cat climb down the stairs headfirst on all fours at speed, so I figured I could do it. I got two stairs down before blasting to the bottom. The cat was far more nimble than I. RangerGordsHair

Every Number possible....

I decided since I was good at math, I wasn't going to study for my math final in Senior year HS.

Turns out that when the teacher says "everything you have learned" LITERALLY MEANS EVERYTHING! I had to remember everything from 2+2 to how to find the area of an ellipse. Fr0thier

Where is your compass?

Probably the time I thought it would be a good idea to leave my hotel and try to navigate a city in a foreign country by myself. Not only could I not find the group of people I was there with, when I tried to go back to the hotel, I couldn't find that either.

I did find them eventually... after three hours of walking, two taxi rides, and one nervous breakdown in front of a very nice travel agent. YourLocalBi

With extra syrup please....

When I thought I could run the 7 hills of Edinburgh cross country race (15 miles, and 1000+ ft ascent) in under 4 hours when I can hardly run a 5k.

I made it to hill 4, then ran straight into a coffee shop and ate some cake before going home. bugbugladybug

Just "1"

Took the AP Calc test as a high school senior. Answers in the practice test had a frustrating pattern of just being 1. Five minutes of rigorous calculation got you a grand total of 1. Got to a problem on the exam, had no idea what to do, drew a massive 1 over the entire page. MattMeduri

You're no stand up... 

Made a joke in an interview, it was about stereotyping an area I grew up in. I didn't get the job. "we do drugs and swear a lot." northernlight217

Guess they didn't need to worry about the drug test at least. theillini19

REDDIT