Leaving The Comfort Zone Behind While On The Path To Success!

Many people find themselves going through a transition sometime during their career.  Whether it is a proactive one (looking for a change) or a reactive one (where change is looking for you); career change happens.  Many people who proactively spend their time looking for a career change, end up looking for many things to be the same as in their previous environment.  Things like, a nice office, the amount of money, the commute time, the people/corporate culture as well as looking for many of the same comforts that they have grown accustomed to.

One has to question whether we are looking for "real change" or just looking for things to be a little different.  With this type of thinking, we tend to build fences around ourselves and limit our true potential.  We don't necessarily go after our dream job, higher ambitions or life's purpose.  Rather we stay confound to where we think we are supposed to be.   In fact, whether we like it or not, we become a slave to our Comfort Zone!

If you don't' agree, ask yourself these questions...

Am I...

...truly doing what I love to do or am I doing what I think I must do?

...stretching myself to do more or do I convince myself that I am doing all I can?

...taking any risks or do I constantly play it safe?

...waking up energized to face my day or am I sluggishly going through the motions?

...focused reaching for higher goals and doing what it takes to achieve them or moving on with no clear direction?

...consistently improving myself/skills or am I doing the same things and expecting different results?

...looking for ways to share my talents and how I can be a “value add” or am I looking for just “what’s in it for me (WIIFM)?"

If you are not answering "yes" to the first part of each of these questions, you just may be stuck in that place that keeps you from your ultimate success...that's right, the dreaded Comfort Zone.

I being a Taurus come to this earth grounded in the desire to be surrounded by comfort.  To add to that, when my comfort zone is threatened I feel mental stress accompanied by physical aches and pains. For many years of my early career, I ensured I worked within a certain radius from my home, turned down various offers because they appeared too difficult, needed to be surrounded by nice people and just aimed to make enough money to ensure my family's well being.  

For the most part, I found that the illusion of this mode of operation to be comforting, but it proved to be very limiting.  More importantly, it became very frightening when someone pulled the Comfort Zone Rug right out from under me with a corporate downsizing that put me on the wrong end of the equation.  As a result, I was forced to make significant changes in my career.  I was forced to take a few steps back in order to build momentum to accelerate forward.  It may sound cliche, but if only I knew then what I know and have experienced today.

That said, now I do things that constantly challenge me and put myself in not-so-comfortable situations in order to keep myself agile and effective. Whether it is learning/mastering something new, taking on a new consulting role with a higher degree of chaos to tame, seek opportunities further from my typical commuting radius, or crafting "thought provoking" speaking topics for presenting to new organizations; I am always looking for a challenge.  

What I have come to learn is that success is not something out there waiting for you to arrive.  Rather it is something that one needs to go out and create.  For being stuck in a comfort zone keeps us rigid and somewhat immobile depending on the extent we let our comfort zones drive our success.  And believe me, comfort zones do not drive our success...they stagnate them!

Here are a few tips to help if you feel stuck in a rut...I mean Comfort Zone.

1) Identify your Comfort Zone - See it, Feel it, Smell it, Taste it.  THEN LEAVE IT!

By no means am I suggesting you leave a job if you are not ready.  Even in a current job, one builds a comfort zone.  You can leave this comfort zone by developing personal/career goal challenges.  Maybe it is meeting with and building a better  rapport with your most challenging stakeholders and customers.  It could be to volunteer for the most challenging initiatives.  Maybe it is giving time to that employee who is just not keeping up with their assignments and mentoring him/her.  Maybe it is getting to work earlier and staying a little later.  It may be offering to take some of your bosses workload or assist him/her where they are having challenges.  The list goes on and there are many comfort areas that can be broken.  These things will surely be noticed by others and work to your advantage. If they are not immediately noticed, don’t lose heart.  Over time, these things add up and make you a more effective individual which will pay off in ways that may not yet be evident. 

If you are looking for a new career opportunity aim high and be clear on what the opportunity should look like, feel like, smell like, taste like. Don't settle for something less than what you are setting out for.  Otherwise, within 6 months you will be disenchanted and begin looking for yet another opportunity.  Also, approach this career search with the mindset of "where can I provide the most assistance/value" rather than totally focusing on "what's in it for me?"  

2) Create Stretch Goals - Yes, I mean really stretch yourself.  Something you feel like right now may seem impossible.  These goals must be those that cannot be achieved by incremental or small improvements but really require extending yourself to the limit in order to be actualized.

A stretch goal, when you achieve it, makes you look back and say "OMG, I can't believe I actually did it!"   Shocking yourself in a positive fashion is very rewarding and will open the door for setting even higher goals.  By setting the bar extremely high, if only half of your goals are achieved, you will still be extremely happy and successful.  

Be very clear and exact with you stretch goals.  You know what they say. “Be careful what you ask for…you just may get it!”  What I have learned is that we ultimately get what we are asking for.  Once we do, we ask ourselves, “Why didn’t I ask for more?”  "Why didn’t I aim for higher goals?”  When I coach people with their careers, this is the most challenging part of our sessions.  Clearly identifying what it is one truly wants, why they want it and what they are willing to do to achieve it is essential in establishing “Career Goal Clarification”.  Once we know where we want to be, we can then plan for the steps needed to get there.  When setting real stretch goals, you must be ready/willing/able to let go and move out of your Comfort Zone.

3) Identify what is holding you back - Ok you know what you want to achieve and you may have even thought of some next step actions to take to begin this journey.  So what is stopping you?  Fear?  Lack of Belief?  Your goals look impossible?  So what, begin taking actions and begin moving forward; for if you are not moving forward you are actually moving backward!  What is most likely holding you back is you are afraid to step out of your Comfort Zone.

4) Start taking action - You need to ask yourself, "What if I don't take these actions now?"  And then, "If not now, when will I proceed?"  If you want true success, you need to begin becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable.  Whether you are looking to become more successful on your current career path, modify it a little or are looking to give your career an extreme makeover; My advice to you is...Take Action Now!  Be like Nike and "Just Do It!  And always remember, "It is not about finding your success...it is about going out and creating it!   

What do you think?  Share your thoughts/success stories!

If I can be of any assistance in your journey to your ultimate success, don't hesitate to reach out to me. 

Wishing you health and endless success!

Ron