Leadership Personal Development

Jump Out of Your Comfort Zone Even If It Means Throwing Up

You know how sometimes you open your Linkedin profile and see someone who’s the most unlikely candidate for a top position — at least from your memory of him- and then go like, “This guy!! This guy!!! How on Earth did this guy get that position?”

So anyhow, if you actually follow the trajectory of their life and try to understand where they got it right to end up in that position, you’ll notice one common theme; they take crazy risks. They risk looking stupid, foolish, idiotic. They spend a lot of time after taking that risk to do something thinking, “What did I just do? What did I just get myself into?” They get nervous to the point of throwing up. But they take risks anyway. A lot of times this happens because they don’t have much to begin with, and the upside to not having that much is you don’t have that much to lose.

A lot of times we refrain from taking risks, because we don’t know what other people would think about us. Yet I guess it’s always been liberating when you realize that people don’t give you that much thought anyway. You’re like a speck in their universe.

And even if they sit there judging you for your lifestyle, who really cares? Unless their livelihood is somehow entwined to yours, people’s opinions are a dime a dozen.I personally feel sorry for people who spend so much time trying to showcase how perfect they are just to get other people’s approval. Because the moment they take one wrong step — which they probably would — all the hours they spent building their name goes down the drain along with the approval rating.

I don’t know if you’ve met any these people, but whenever you sit with them, they have to give you a story that shows how kind/loyal/honest they are — usually at the expense of someone else. They put themselves on a pedestal — by stamping on other people. Personally, I stay away from people like that, because sooner or later, you end up being the person being stamped on.

So I guess my takeaway today is to remember to step outside your comfort zone and take some risks in life. Also remember you’re the average of the five people you hang out with, so pick them carefully.

Thanks to @nadnad_ke for the discussion that inspired this post.

Image (c) ahscribbles

What are your thoughts on the topic? Tweet me @ahechoes to let me know.

If you like this post, support the work by sharing it with your friends on facebook.

Get my ebook “Mine your inner resources” at a discounted price in Kindle  form or as PDF.

Also, check out my short story collection, “All Bleeding Stops and Other Short Stories from the Kenyan Coast” and subscribe to the newsletter here; [mc4wp_form id=”680″]

Leave a Reply