Carving - 1/18/19

Photo by Daniel Frank on Unsplash

I never even heard the words “comfort zone” until I was 26. As a teen, I just thought the way you were was the way you will always be. There were no zones. There just was. My parents told others I was shy, so I guess I’m a supposed to be a shy guy. My grandmother said I could draw, so I did. Throughout our lives, we acquire many voices in our heads that control our behaviors that influence our outcomes. But which voice is truly ours?

It took a lifetime of mastering a skill, seeing what it’s like “at the top” of the AAA video game industry, a layoff, a failed startup, and many challenging relationships along the way to sculpt my being to learn the “rules of life.”

At 36 years old and after learning rules are BS, I’m turning all the knobs to 11. This time, age and experience have given me a huge advantage in executing my game plan to make it stick. Here it is:

1. Stay outside your comfort zone for too long, and you will burn yourself out and snap back to old habits (default).

2. Stay inside your comfort zone for too long, and you won’t make the progress you strived for. Loosey goosey.

The magic is in the consistent tension of the back and forth. Like a skier (or snowboarder) carving down a hill, dipping in and out of the two zones is how progress builds as we navigate down the giant mountain of life. In the book “The One Thing” by Gary Keller, he refers to this as “counterbalancing.” We are never truly “balanced.” He argues you wouldn’t want to be split down the middle anyway. When we are focusing on new habits, get in the zone. When you are taking a break, take a full break.

Work. Play. In. Out.

Just two weeks into the new year, we know what is sticking and what isn’t. I sure do. Cold showers on rainy mornings is NOT something I rave about. But the mirror speaks to the results of my small efforts. Most of us aren’t superhuman. But superhuman or regular human, the clock ticks at the same speed.

Fuck yeah, it's Friday! Have a great weekend!

Simon