Out of the comfort zone
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Practise what you preach. I cannot think of a better way to commence this blog. I have to admit I haven’t actually practised what I preach for the last few months, as I haven’t kept my blog updated as much as I would have liked. Although it is what I advise to my clients. If you are going to have a blog in your site, I say, do ensure your blog is updated regularly. It boosts your search engine and indicates your site is maintained with the latest information and news. Well, here I am, few months after.
I got busy. I know, poor excuse. I got lazy. Maybe. Summer was incredibly long and so warm. I got distracted. Not really. I’d say, I got comfortable. I was listening to the recording of a really good seminar I downloaded about turning thoughts into things. Yes, I am really into this. And the speaker said something really interesting. He said, “the danger of being in a comfort zone is that it doesn’t hurt and it even might feel good.” His words couldn’t have been wiser. Reaching a comfortable place in life, including the workplace, gives us a feeling of security and contentment but it can really hold us back from real growth and prosperity.
This got me thinking. The biggest achievements of my life have always been the result of having to react to circumstances that took me out of my comfort zone. I remembered when I bought my first flat. This happened as a result of being asked by the landlady to move out of my rental accommodation as she had decided to sell the property. Did I want to move out? Not really. What a pain in the bum! But it prompted me to act and be in charged. The same occurred when few years later I was made redundant. Did I want to go through all the hassle of finding a new job? Of course not. But again, it drove me to sit down, reflect on what I wanted and make a plan with the steps I needed to take to achieve it. The outcome couldn’t have been better as I ended up with my dream job. Well, at the time I thought it was my dream job. Inside, I kept growing. I kept reaching for more.
Today I live a much riskier life. I don’t wait until something happens to react. I simply act. I act when an idea that feels good keeps hammering my mind. I pay attention to my goals. I drive them forward.
Someone asked me the other day what I do for living. I said, "I am a writer.” He then asked what I had published. “This sounds to me like the chicken and egg situation,” I replied. I am a writer. I write all day long, for pleasure and for work. The book hasn’t been published yet but my intent is that it does one day. Am I a writer in the making then? Well, there is always a first time for everything. I’d love to be able to ask Miss Austen if she had called herself a writer before publishing Sense and Sensibility. My guess is that she did. Writing is the most challenging job I have ever done and also what I most love. And I think the love for the trade I feel is enough to call myself a writer.