Is Being Comfortable Killing Your Success?
I have had the pleasure of being in many different financial places in life. I have been FLAT broke, I have been “comfortable,” and I have been at many places in between. In my opinion, the most deadly place of all to be is “comfortable.”
Let me explain what I mean by FLAT broke
At some point between living in Beverly Hills and where I am at today running a successful freelancing company, I was FLAT broke. And when I say broke, I don’t mean that I had $50 in the bank account and had to live on Ramen Noodles. I mean that I had no bank account, no place to live, and $0.
This story illustrates my lowest FINANCIAL point.
At my lowest financial point I had 2 kids ages 8 months and 2 years and really felt like a loser. The reason I ended up there was because I took a risk (a risk that I’m still glad that I took and that ended up turning out very well.)
I had been living in a crummy hotel for a week paid for by a welfare program called “emergency assistance,” but the stay in the hotel room had ended. I had a college degree. I knew I that I had been and could be successful in just about any situation; it was just that at that moment, I had nothing.
With no money and a very urgent need to pay for the hotel room within the next few hours or be living in the car, I made a decision to hold up a sign for money at a stop light at a busy intersection. I hated it, but I bit my lip, stared up into the clouds to avoid looking anyone in the eye, and reminded myself over and over and over again to stay strong. That this was not who I was, this was temporary. I got enough to pay for the hotel, and each day found a new way to pull myself out of that situation.
Bouncing Back
It didn’t take long at all to bounce back to the level of financial stability I had enjoyed before. My previous boss who was a millionaire and entrepreneur told me that he had managed to earn a million dollars, lose it, and get it back again 3 times. That’s because being a millionaire was what was comfortable to him.
I too have been broke several times and bounced back at rapid speed each time. In fact, it’s quite astounding how fast I bounced back. But I always ended up at the SAME level of financial stability, “comfortable.”
Why Comfort Can Kill Your Dreams
Unless your comfort zone is in align with your dreams, reaching your perceived point of comfort can stop your progress dead in its tracks. “Comfortable” allows us to make excuses about why we should not take risks. Comfortable allows us to watch that hour of TV instead of busting butt toward our dreams. Comfortable kills that wonderful fight or flight emotion that can rocket launch you into a place of safety when you’re in danger.
If you’re like me and you always seem to be comfortable you might need to do something to shake up your world and make you uncomfortable.
This might mean going to test drive a new Mercedes, touring a house that is well above your current means, or planning an amazing trip that you can’t afford. Most importantly, you will have to rewrite your idea of success, placing the marker well beyond where you are at now.
If you can begin thinking of yourself as unsuccessful instead of comfortable, you can start making some progress.
September 26 2007 08:02 am | Business Building
Bunk on 26 Sep 2007 at 8:41 am #
I have been in that “comfortable” stage and I agree. It is dangerous and honestly, is somewhere that I hate being. My thoughts are that a large amount of people in the United States are in this comfortable stage, therefor that should tell us something.
Christine on 26 Sep 2007 at 2:48 pm #
I couldn’t agree with your more Bunk… I am working on making myself feel as uncomfortable as possible without having to end up holding a sign again! You are so right… it is a dangerous place to be. So many people strive to be “comfortable,” but for the dreamers and entrepreneurs like all of us here, “comfortable” may as well be a life sentence of complete boredom.
Thanks for sharing!
Anthony on 27 Sep 2007 at 2:30 am #
Wow, Christine! Sounds as though you overcame some very hard circumstances there. I can certainly relate to getting too comfortable at times. It’s a place I constantly slip in and out of. But for the first time in my life, I finally have a fairly clear picture of what I want in life. I feel like the biggest obstacle for me was figuring that out(took quite a few years). Now I’ve just got to stay uncomfortable enough to go get it.
FRACAT - Free Resume And Career Toolbox Blog » Job-Seeking / Career-Improvement Quicklinks for September 28, 2007 on 28 Sep 2007 at 6:21 am #
[...] Everybody had a financial place where they want to be. Let’s call it their “comfort zone”. If people get out of their “comfort zone”, they will do drastic things to get back there. However, Christine over at Create Business Growth shows us how comfort can be fatal to your success. [...]