Thoughts over coffee: Part eight

Coffee and I are old friends (coffee is older than me of course) and I do a lot of thinking over coffee. With this in mind I decided to start a little concept called thoughts over coffee which I'll be doing from time to time.

I don't like laziness or reward it - I don't have anything against down-time, relaxation, doing nothing and such other legitimate activities - but laziness grinds my gears.

Laziness - Comfort

I'm not talking about getting into a comfortable position on the couch, I'm talking about feelings of comfort when applied to where a person is personally or professionally. I'm also not suggesting that being "comfortable" is altogether wrong, but failing to step out of one's comfort zone can be incredibly limiting.

A person's growth and development occurs once the threshold between feelings of comfort and discomfort has been crossed; doing uncomfortable things often bring the greatest rewards.

Imagine being put in charge of a team project for example. The responsibility to guide the team and project forward, the additional workload, self-doubt, worry and the stress of time-pressure can take a person well out of their comfort zone and that's not even to mention the discomfort of knowing success and failure ultimately rests on your shoulders. But once the step from comfortable to uncomfortable has been taken the magic can start to happen...and usually does.

That's when a person has need to dig deeper into their reserves of energy, thought, intelligence, endurance, persistence, resilience, skill and attitude and here's the good part, whether the project succeeds or fails, the person will learn a lot of valuable lessons which then carry them forward into the future to better results. Leaning into the feeling of discomfort is what can unlock a person's true potential and once the fear-factor of taking that first step is over the rest becomes easier.

The best results don't just fall out of the sky, it takes effort, physical, mental and emotional, and sometimes we need to get out of our comfort zone to get things done.

What do you reckon? If you want to comment below then go ahead, I'm interested in your thoughts and experiences. Staying safely within one's comfort zone is lazy and limiting.