That achievement is a good thing is not in contest. The feeling we get after accomplishment of our goals in our respective fields of endeavor is incomparable. No doubt each and every one of us yearns for achievement, accomplishment, fulfillment, success. No one in their rightful senses would embark on a task/objective/goal/mission and not expect to succeed in it. I am yet to meet that one man or woman whose major aspiration is to enter books of records as the undisputed failure, as the clumsiest creature on earth, as the most incompetent person in the world or as the poorest ever known individual. We all want to be associated with greatness β and yes we can be great if we work for it. Everyone wants to be comfortable in life.
It is ironical and interesting to learn that the same comfort that we all strive for can lead to our ultimate failure. We work hard to achieve comfort yet the same comfort becomes an enemy of progress. Continued stay in comfort is dangerous. It blurs our sight for great things. It causes inaction. You see, life is not an event that happens, it is a mystery to be lived. Success is not an occurrence either, it is a going concern. Earl Nightingale perhaps gives the best definition of success reflective of this point. That success βis the progressive realization of a worthy ideal/goal.β Key from this definition is that success is not instantaneous. Great achievers in life have learnt the art of setting goals, achieving them, setting even higher ones and the process is continuous.
Tragedy is when one gets comfortable after succeeding in one goal. He/she never sets the next goal and before long their world seems to halt. Most people achieve less in life not because they cannot achieve, not because they are not wired for success, not because they are lesser individuals, but because they once achieved, got comfortable and forgot to set new goals. Indeed, past achievements are deadly dream killers. Comfort is detrimental. How many one-hit-wonders do we know today? People who make it big in one thing once, never to be heard of or seen again. Of course not because they are dead. The celebration lasted longer than necessary. You have done well, kudos! But remember to move on to the next assignment.
Most people are also reluctant to break status quo in pursuit of great accomplishments. They subscribe to the creed of things being fine the way they are. They have fear of the unknown. They cannot stand the thought of breaking current associations and current environments in pursuit of higher grounds. The forty or so year old men who cannot be independent and insist on being sustained by their parents, belong here. They are too comfortable to venture out on their own. In the story of the eagle, a time comes when the young eagles have developed feathers of their own but are reluctant to get out of the nest. The warmth and comfort in the nest cannot be compared with the blinding cold and wind outside the nest. It is at this point that the mother eagle makes unpopular decisions to safeguard the future of the young eagles. The mother eagle decides to remove the warm layers in the nest until only thorns remain. The resultant discomfort from the pricks of the thorns pushes the young ones out. They find themselves with no option but to learn how to flap wings and fly.
In life, it is important to appreciate the importance of discomfort. Every time you find yourself comfortable, you need to get worried. There is no destination in life. We have to keep moving. Great men and women of this universe have learnt the art of creating discomfort for themselves to get the drive to fly to the next level. It is good to feel comfortable in life. However, for sustainable comfort to be achieved, one requires some discomfort. You need to develop the guts to venture from the so familiar territories, from the comfort zones. Decisions for success are never popular, so do not expect people to applause you when you make extraordinary moves in life. Such moves will bring you discomfort, but it is necessary for your next comfort. I hearten you today to get out of the comfort zone. Become uncomfortable each time you find yourself comfortable. Success begins at the end of your comfort zone. Do not follow crowds because they make you comfortable, create the discomfort by breaking away and pursue your mission in life. Do not waste time being a success spectator; jump into the game and become a success player because YOU CAN DO BETTER!
Roy Okonji,
Trainer | Motivational Speaker | Team Builder | Life Coach | Mentor
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