Run away from comfort

Truth is, I like being comfortable. Comfortable chair, comfortable bed…you get the picture. But there is another form of comfort that is very dangerous. That feeling of “I have arrived”. I have been there many times and it has cost me dearly. Because by the time you wake up from the ‘I have I have arrived’ slumber, you open your eyes only to find that the world has moved on or your competitors have seduced your customers away. Mr Comfort, that’s not good.
You have heard the preaching against the comfort zone. But why should be alert against this monster? First, it limits your potential in terms of what you could accomplish. As you lay down, you could possibly have been creating another blockbuster. Second, you will never know how far you could go. You are never in position to ascertain what you are capable of.

Because you get the ultimate glimpse of who you are in the battle field, on the pitch and not on your couch. Third, the passion inside you is dimmed or killed. Kahlil Gibran said that “The lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul”. The soul is always crying out for self-expression. To stretch out to the possible and when you are comfortable, that is lost.
This is how you can run away from your comfort zone. I love questions because the right questions will give you the right answers. Am I hearing “sample me”?

“What could stretch me?” this will force you to go on a mental search to figure out what else would push you beyond your previous limits.
“What would make me uncomfortable?” Yep. Just look at the opposite of comfort and do exactly that. Let me give you an example of what I have been thinking about of late in the same line. I have literally never done trading. And I have been thinking about it lately because I believe it would push me further. It would definitely be uncomfortable. I am thinking of something like importing stuff and then sell them downtown. This would be helpful in a sense that I have mainly been dealing with intellectuals like you. Speaking English in suits and meeting directors in air conditioned board rooms. I am now comfortable in those circles. Downtown? No. Trading? No.

Importing goods for sale? No. Would all this improve my business skills and also kick me out of the comfort zone? You bet. By the way, if you are an expert at what I have just described and you have been in the trenches for years and have done it successfully, I am open to be coached. Just drop me an email and we take it from there.
Anyhow, the scenario above shows what am talking about. The reason I like this principle is that your actual potential is never in what you are already doing but what you haven’t done yet. It’s uncomfortable. And it’s worth it. Go do it.

ethan@success-Africa.com
Ethan is the CEO of Success Africa, a motivational speaker, author and HR consultant.