Let’s debunk the most prominent motivational metaphor . . .
“Success exists outside of your comfort zone”
Nope!
Success ONLY exists in your comfort zone. Success outside of a comfort zone is called luck.
The mental construct of a singular “comfort zone” is incorrect, confining, and degrading. You don’t have ONE comfort zone, you have many. Consider:
At home with family
At home entertaining guests
At work with peers
At work with clients
Success (however you define it) in these environments is earned only when you are comfortable in them. Because you are born with very few comfort zones, you spend your life building ones.
You build comfort zones, you don’t escape from them.
Comfort zones are not hiding places of the frail and feeble. They are the ornate structures designed from your imagination, financed with your time, and built with your efforts. These structures house your greatest accomplishments and hold your grandest dreams.
You may have stopped building new comfort zones because you are/were content with the fruits of your successes. Perfect. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.
Unfortunately (ish), we are cursed with a tragic case of “more-ism.” If you succumb, willfully or not, to this wretched disease, you may choose to build new comfort zones as an antidote.
Success doesn’t lurch from behind the 7-11 parking lot and give you a hefty bear hug because you left your comfort zone; however, it will invariably introduce itself during the construction of a new one.
