When we speak of benefit, we need to be specific about the units of the value we are using. It is easy to enumerate benefit in an infinite array of things we find beneficial, but this makes it unnecessarily difficult to compare between alternatives. How do you compare the benefit of a delicious plate of food, an enjoyable vacation, and a needed afternoon nap? The key lies in thinking about all benefit in terms of long-term benefit. Fundamentally, all benefit is either joy or something expected to lead to it, and we value it in accordance with how much joy we expect to receive through it.
Most often, audacious goals are not pursued by others simply because most people have a very low tolerance for danger, no matter how great the opportunity. You can very simply calculate whether a risk is worth taking by estimating its expected value: