Just yesterday, I was meeting with a friend of mine. He was expressing his frustration about never really making any more money year after year. Each year, his 1099 always seems to look the same and was asking my opinion of how I felt he could move to the next level. I know this person very well and it was easy for me to express my opinion. He needs to move out of his comfort zone.
All of us have a comfort zone. It’s not a temperature range, nor is it an underwear size – it’s a place where things make sense, where we feel at ease, where we feel like we belong. In short, it’s a state of mind where we feel comfortable.
What’s the problem with that? Well, when we continually stay in our comfort zone, we never really change. That means we never get any better.
Think back to something you learned as a child. It might have been baseball, swimming, football, or gymnastics. It might have been algebra, public speaking, drama, spelling, or the multiplication tables.
At some point, we felt comfortable with what we knew, with our abilities (low though they may have been at the time) and with who we were. And then here’s this parent, this teacher, or this friend, asking us to become better, asking us to risk what we were, in an attempt to become somebody better – somebody different.
If you were like most children, you rose to the occasion. Perhaps you’re still moving towards that destination (especially in algebra), but you’re moving towards it.
In other words, you chose to move beyond your comfort zone, risking who you were, to some extent, to become better.
People just don’t become better unless they grow and progress – and that means learning new things, taking new risks, creating new ideas. That means moving outside of where we are comfortable, and moving toward new, better ideas.
When we move beyond our comfort zone, we will sometimes fail – but more often than not, our efforts are rewarded with new skills, new boundaries, growth, success, and a new future – a future that is often ablaze with new-born opportunities.
It’s much easier to sit on the couch, turn on the TV, and never make a move out of our comfort zone. At work, it’s much easier to never rock the boat, keep your head down, and wait for the next deal.
But you were made for more than just that. You were made to succeed, to grow, to move beyond your challenges and tribulations, to a new and brighter tomorrow.
Get out of your comfort zone and grow, become better, and what the heck… make more money.
TERRY Talks 