Robert De Niro in his movie, Hands of Stone, once said, “To rest is to rust”. Take for example, a Wrestler or a Boxer who just won a championship, and let him say, “I am the champion, winning is what I do, I don’t need to train”. He probably will lose if there is a fight to defend that championship. Basically, everyone sometimes needs a rest after serious work and attainment of success/greatness.
While rest is important, complacency and unproductivity leads to rust. What do you have now that you are so satisfied? Are you okay with your present achievement? Are you satisfied with your university degree because you attended one of the top private universities in Nigeria? Is it your results in different courses that give you much satisfaction? Maybe it’s that house or that job position. Whatever the case, you might want to take some time to reflect.
The comfort zone is that place in which one feels comfortable and in which his/her ability and determination are not being tested. If you look back into the past years and all you see are things you could have done, like having that IT subject, BSC/MBA or learning the new skills required for that promotion, then you are in a place where your ability or determination is not being tested. That is a comfort zone experience.
What you don’t know:
Most people don’t realize that they are in their comfort zone. And the more they feed their comfort zone, the more they starve themselves of creativity, innovation and progress. Eventually, they are stuck in their progress while their comfort zone gets even fatter by the day.
The cost of comfort zone:
While you sit down and sleep over those ideas you never achieved or you are afraid of making a move, some other people are making a move, meeting new clients and signing new deals. While you make excuses about poor grade in your semester’s exams or failure in university’s courses, some other people are moving around making first class and second class grades. While you are comfortable with what you know, others are networking and developing new skills. Hence, you rub yourself of the opportunity to meet new people, people that could take you to a new level in your different courses, career or that could connect you to new opportunities. The comfort zone, therefore, costs you new skill and knowledge; rubs us of your purpose and vision and finally of your growth.
What you need to beat the comfort zone experience:
- First, you may need to recognize your position. What have you been doing lately to better your position in university’s courses, job, career, or that person you want to become. It’s time to pick it up, be focused, determined and spend some time a day doing something about it.
- Second, trying new things and be consistent with it. For example, you want to be a Graphics Designer; what kind of designs do you want to specialize in? What do you need to start doing now? Any IT subjects in particular? If you had started before, why did you give up? Did you ask for help from a professional? Unless we answer these questions, we will be jumping from one thing to another.
- Third, you must not accept excuses. Excuses are for the weak. People who make excuses are those who allow fear to drown their capability. That you are not there yet doesn’t mean you’ll never get there. Fail, but try again, Keep working, keep pushing and work hard.
- Finally, we must have a personal goal and development plan and stay committed to it. Read some new books and have time for social activities. No procrastination on that big idea, just DO it!