I doubt the world even knows enough about Richard Branson's personal subjective world and internal wiring to know if "desperation" is even the right descriptor. (I certainly don't.) Whether that kind of pressure motivates or demoralizes a particular person depends in part on the person. In my own case, I am very risk averse and only take risks when that is the conservative answer. My oldest son loves it when we have some crisis because he knows I will rise to the occasion and find some creative solution I would never try if a more conservative option were viable. I hate, hate, hate it and feel tortured by such situations. But I am trying to make my peace with it because it is obvious that some of my best ideas come out of gambles made when there was no sure thing available. Other people seem to perceive me as combative, risk-taking, and so on. I don't. I see myself as forced into such choices at gun-point and someone who would far prefer to NOT have to make such choices.
Another thought: If you are dramatically more competent than almost everyone you meet at some things, no one can realistically tell you what you can or cannot do. You have probably been told a jillion times "you can't do that!" when you already had done it. I know I tend to find my limits by falling on my face because failure is the only sure measure of what I genuinely cannot do. I have been told so many times that I could not do something when, in fact, I absolutely could do it that I just can't take the word of other people concerning what is a reasonable goal. I also loathe this aspect of my life. This is not how I want it to be. But it would be insane to behave more "conservatively" when there is a mountain of evidence showing that what other people believe is "impossible" is often just difficult for me but not impossible. This gives other people a certain perception about me reminiscent of what I am hearing about Richard Branson but the public feedback I get about how people see me is very different from my own view of myself. So just because outsiders look at Branson and view his life as lived in a "desperate" state does not mean that is how he experienced it.
Another thought: If you are dramatically more competent than almost everyone you meet at some things, no one can realistically tell you what you can or cannot do. You have probably been told a jillion times "you can't do that!" when you already had done it. I know I tend to find my limits by falling on my face because failure is the only sure measure of what I genuinely cannot do. I have been told so many times that I could not do something when, in fact, I absolutely could do it that I just can't take the word of other people concerning what is a reasonable goal. I also loathe this aspect of my life. This is not how I want it to be. But it would be insane to behave more "conservatively" when there is a mountain of evidence showing that what other people believe is "impossible" is often just difficult for me but not impossible. This gives other people a certain perception about me reminiscent of what I am hearing about Richard Branson but the public feedback I get about how people see me is very different from my own view of myself. So just because outsiders look at Branson and view his life as lived in a "desperate" state does not mean that is how he experienced it.
PS -- My computer is back from the shop. Woot! :)