The worst place to be in life is comfortable.
The most dangerous place to be in life is inside your comfort zone. It’s a strange place though, because when your in it, you feel wonderful. You’re on top of the world, doing what you do best. People complement you, gaze in amazement at the skills and talents you have. Why wouldn’t you want to be here? I am awesome you say.
That’s the kool-aide your comfort zone wants you to drink. ‘Hey man, you’re awesome, doesn’t this feel good?’ It’s like being in a hot tub in the middle of winter. Except, what happens when the hot tub stops being hot?
The problem is though, you don’t grow. You stagnate over time and those who have lived outside their comfort zones catch up and pass you. You’ve lost your competitive advantage. And the longer you stay there, the tougher it is to get out.
This applies to everything in life — not just work. A trivial and simple example is wearing a down jacket outside when it’s 50 degrees out. 50 degrees is warm, not down jacket weather. However, at some point you got uncomfortable at 45º so you put a jacket on, now your comfort zone shrank so now it has to be 50º or warmer for you to be comfortable. Then 50º rolls around and at some point you were comfortable not wearing a jacket at 50º but since your goal in life is to stay smack dab in your comfort zone, it’s 50º out and you’ve got a jacket on. Soon it’ll be 55º and then 60º.
Take Wim Hof for example. He’s a champion of the cold and has long believed that growth happens outside of your comfort zone. If you haven’t, take a second to check out this video on Wim.
Everyone has been sold a false bill of goods and It’s time to realize that it’s perfectly ok to be uncomfortable.
Ask yourself when the last time you were truly uncomfortable. When was the last time you pulled an all-nighter? Or ran outside when it was freezing out – when no one else wanted to run. When you were doubled over, heaving, and out of breath from a workout?
When was the last time you did something that you thought you couldn’t complete? Or thought you would fail?
In the beginning it’s not a great feeling, but it’s the feeling of growth and new opportunity. So embrace it.
Jocko Willink, a retired navy seal has a whole book on this idea of growth, comfort and discipline. His book Extreme Ownership is all based on the idea that discipline equals freedom and growth.
“That nice, soft pillow, and the warm blanket, and it’s all comfortable and no one wants to leave that comfort — but if you can wake up early in the morning, get a head start on everyone else that’s still sleeping, get productive time doing things that you need to do — that’s a huge piece to moving your life forward,” Willink said. “And so get up early. I know it’s hard. I don’t care. Do it anyways.” — Jocko Willink
I get sucked into the comfort zone like everyone else. I certainly am not one to preach. But I too need a reminder that to grow, learn and eventually succeed in life requires to spend most of it being uncomfortable.
