Complacency: The Silent Killer
Your goals are important.
DUH. No shit Sherlock. Of course my goals are important, they’re MY goals.
Okay okay, so you already know having big dreams and goals are an important component to living a full life.
However, if you’re still relatively new at this whole setting goals thing like I am, one thing you may come to realize is that setting goals is much easier than achieving goals.
If I asked you what some of your goals are, I bet you could rattle off a bunch — ranging from career goals, relationship goals, health goals etc.
I would also be willing to bet some of these goals would be long term while some short term.
“WOW Austen, you’re a regular clairvoyant.”
Bear with me here.
I would ALSO venture to guess that you have had many of these goals for different lengths of time. I’ll bet some probably sit there — tormenting you, rendering you indefinitely discouraged, forcing you to question why you can’t seem to cross them off that damn list.
Well why the hell cant I?!
Maybe some of these goals are someone else’s dream and not yours, perhaps you’re just not truly committed to them.
Or maybe you chose unattainable goals, ones that are more of a fantasy than anything else.
OR it could be, that you have been afflicted with the silent killer — complacency.
The word ‘complacent’ may not necessarily evoke any negative emotions right away, as it sounds like a seemingly harmless term.
But make no mistake, if we allow it, it can leave us feeling trapped like a hamster in a wheel; a slave to habitual living.
It is by far what I have struggled with the most in my life, and continue to struggle with to this day.
Complacency provides a false sense of security; all we have to do is flip on the proverbial ‘autopilot switch’ and coast. It’s like quicksand. It’s so easy to get into a pattern of thinking “why should I push the envelope and introduce new elements into my life that may upset this balance I’ve worked so hard to create?”
I’ll admit, I am a bit sensitive to this topic, as its been this way of thinking that has caused the most distress in my life.
It has been detrimental to my personal development, my career and some of my relationships. And the problem is, I may not even realize it until I’ve had the autopilot switch on for quite some time.
Fortunately (or unfortunately however you want to look at it), life has a funny way of sending you messages, or signals to wake you up. These moments or situations act as a cold bucket of water being thrown in your face.
It may come in the form of a breakup, termination from your job, or a serious illness (god forbid).
Or maybe you wake up to see that another year went by and you realize you are in the same exact place as you were a year ago.
They may not always show up in the the most fun ways, but they are indeed there if you’re willing to look.
I have come to accept that complacency is something I will have to fight for the rest of my life. It’s something we will all have to fight from time to time.
But take it from someone who has learned this the hard way; being happy, having healthy relationships and achieving your goals doesn’t just happen. It requires effort, and a helluva lot of it.
Just remember, no matter where you are in life, regardless of your past, it’s never too late to start anew.
Are we going to stumble sometimes and regress along the way? You can bet your life on it — and that’s okay.
What is not okay is choosing to stay stuck. Because complacency is in fact just that — a choice.
So YOU have to decide. Do you want to make things happen? Or do you want to sit on the sidelines and watch things happen?
