I would go for less risk and less profit because I rather have less risk and less profit but consistent, for me that would be stable income and consistency is the key to have a big profit in the long run. Younger people will always put big risk in order to make huge profit but once you will aged you will only settle for less risk but consistent profit and of course it's less stress at all. Investing will not be measure for huge profit but it matters for long term run!
In the investment process everyone will have a different approach, someone's success formula is just for reference and not completely applicable to anyone, we see the fact that the rich are often less the poor, and the successful are also less than the losers, it's like a purification. Of course everyone wants to have a comfortable life, but that doesn't mean it always happens to us, I think life is always fair, when you do well you will get the results you deserve. Taking risks or accepting safety all have problems around it, the question is what is risk? And what is safe? I think each of us will judge the problem differently based on our understanding of life, like the story OP mentioned about people who have experienced and achieved some results, so the core here is learning and lessons give us perspective on that journey.