Pay-off: future-proof your career immediately
Investment: < 2 mins
Are you comfortable in your career?
If so, you might be a sitting duck.
As time progresses, your comfort zone becomes uncomfortable. It’s inevitable. It’s either happening right now, and you’re feeling it, or it’s about to happen sometime soon…
What is more comfortable, as time progresses, is the area outside of your ‘comfort zone’. Someone got the term the wrong way round. You learn to grow and adapt and strengthen against what’s out their beyond your comfort zone. And that’s where the engagement, challenge, results and rewards lies.
The vulnerability test
Consider where you lie on a 1-10 scale of comfort in your career. 10 is extremely comfortable.
Got a number in mind?
Now, step into your changing reality and switch the label of that scale from ‘comfort zone’ to ‘sitting duck’.
10 means you’re heading towards becoming a sitting duck in your career. Something’s about to surprise you.
As things change around you, who and what you are to the market changes (even if you’re confident in who and what you are and confident that you have strong relationships and loyalty with your employer or customers). A word of warning – unless you’re on the verge of retirement, you’re likely to face something in your career that you won’t like and won’t be particularly well equipped to deal with effectively.
Controlled discomfort
Creating ‘controlled discomfort’, however, will build your muscles to increase your chances of both avoiding the potential consequences AND being able to deal with them if you didn’t avoid them.
Controlled discomfort means willingly putting yourself in a risky position that stretches you (rather than staying quiet in the risky position you’re in). One where you might be judged, criticised, or exposed as a (temporary) failure. But you might succeed. And if you don’t, you’ll succeed at having strengthened yourself. Then you just need to do it again.
A smooth sea never made a skilful sailor. If you’re on smooth seas, chart another course.
What one thing could you do right now to step out of your comfort zone – that thing that’s been on your mind that you really don’t want to do but feel you should. If it will make you stronger for what’s ahead, schedule it and do it. Contact me if you’re struggling with that. I might be able to help.
