My lovely wife and I recently stayed in a hotel for a brief getaway. The handwritten note scrawled in Sharpie marker on the heater/air conditioner unit caught my eye. I took a picture of it.
“Keep in the Comfort Zone”
As you can see, the Comfort Zone is defined by clear parameters on this heating unit. Apparently, to set the thermostat outside of those parameters will create an uncomfortable room temperature—one that is either too cold or too hot.
Uncomfortable. Something that is too much of something.
Too much hardness. Too much softness. To much salt. Too much water. Too much light. Too much darkness. Too much closeness. Too much distance. Too much volume. Too much pressure. Too much structure. Too much freedom. Too much truth. Too much honesty. Too much secrecy. Too much thinking. Too much feeling. Too much risk.
None of us likes to be uncomfortable. We all naturally seek comfort—that “sweet spot” of existence between too much of one thing and too much of another.
It’s starting to get cold in Chicago this week. People are already complaining. It’s a yearly ritual—a way for us to prepare for the weeks and months ahead of ridiculously cold weather.
What we’re really saying is, “I’m not ready for this—it isn’t comfortable.”
Comfort is a good thing. Pursue it and enjoy it. Stay warm in that cold weather.
HOWEVER, to grow, to advance, to progress, to improve REQUIRES US to leave our comfort zone, and to stretch ourselves beyond what we’re used to.
And enter into DIScomfort, that zone where it “hurts”.
There’s no way around it.
The problem is, though, that it’s counterintuitive to walk straight into discomfort, on purpose. Cutting a new pathway takes effort, and effort makes us sweat. And sweating for the fun of it makes no sense to our brain.
There has to be a good reason to enter into discomfort. Why does the Olympic gymnast put his body through pain, practicing 8 hours everyday until it hurts? For that gold medal.
What’s your gold medal? THIS is what you’ll need to remember to keep pressing on in the midst of the pain—that prize that makes the discomfort worth it.
Guess what? You’ll never get your gold medal if you never leave your comfort zone.
Of course, you already know that. But knowledge alone is never enough. Are you taking action yet?!
So then, comfort is wonderful, generally speaking, but comfort is the enemy when it prevents us from progressing.
Where do you need to challenge yourself to push beyond your comfort zone and enter into that realm of growth which, by nature, will be uncomfortable for you?
You can remain comfortable or you can grow.
You can be safe or you can be strong!
The choice is yours.
--Sean Cox, Chicago