Are you dangerously comfortable?
A phrase caught my eye this week when reading a Fast Company interview with Tim Ferris, who is the 4 hour work-week evangelist. The phrase was...
dangerously comfortable
We all get that way sometimes in our work and in our lives. Dangerously comfortable. Sometimes it is because we are successful in what we do. Perhaps it is because we are financially secure or for most of us, we are so overwhelmed with life, we just let another week slide by. Maybe, just maybe next week will be better.
What happens when we are dangerously comfortable?
We lose our curiosity, we ignore opportunities, we stop innovating. The slow death of taking the initiative.
I thought about our ancestors, pioneers, inventors, explorers. I doubt any of them were ever dangerously comfortable. I would imagine the two words that consciously or subconsciously resonate within them would be, what if?
I thought about what I should fear the most and it is this. One day I arrive at the pearly gates to meet my maker. In one hand I have a bottle of opportunity and in the other a bottle of talent.
What would I say, if neither bottle was completely empty. How would I feel to know at the end of the journey, I had not used all my opportunities or made the most of all my talents...
dangerously comfortable
We all get that way sometimes in our work and in our lives. Dangerously comfortable. Sometimes it is because we are successful in what we do. Perhaps it is because we are financially secure or for most of us, we are so overwhelmed with life, we just let another week slide by. Maybe, just maybe next week will be better.
What happens when we are dangerously comfortable?
We lose our curiosity, we ignore opportunities, we stop innovating. The slow death of taking the initiative.
I thought about our ancestors, pioneers, inventors, explorers. I doubt any of them were ever dangerously comfortable. I would imagine the two words that consciously or subconsciously resonate within them would be, what if?
I thought about what I should fear the most and it is this. One day I arrive at the pearly gates to meet my maker. In one hand I have a bottle of opportunity and in the other a bottle of talent.
What would I say, if neither bottle was completely empty. How would I feel to know at the end of the journey, I had not used all my opportunities or made the most of all my talents...
posted by The Idea Dude at 4:30 PM
6 Comments:
This one really rang a bell for me. I'm a person who likes to be comfortable. Luckily, I recognized the danger early on -- in jobs where my coworkers were settled. They had been doing the same thing for twenty years, and expected to go on another twenty.
They did it well, or badly -- but never learned anything new.
Several times in my life, I quit jobs, picked up and moved -- just to not be one of those people.
And I'm glad I did.
Thanks for sharing that, Sharon.
I think we all prefer to be comfortable if given the choice. Risk and uncertainty makes us uncomfortable.
Like you, whenever I took that uncharted step, I always wondered why I didn't do it sooner.
Vern
Its a constant battle to stop ourselves from getting caught up in a routine around a comfort zone.
The exhilaration of change is always enticing but I find that when it comes time for that change to take effect, I always start having second thoughts. I am glad that things are usually so far along that I can't do anything about it though otherwise I wouldn't have had so many interesting experiences. Like moving to Palembang.....
It certainly looks like a really interesting place. Would love to visit there one day.
Vern
Wow!
Short and sweet and to the point.
I love it!
Thanks Laura, I'm glad you like it!
Vern
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