Beware of Too Much Comfort
A little while ago, I read about how to boil a frog. It was a really weird story at first. If you try to put a frog into a pot of boiling water, the frog would immediately jump out. However, if you started the frog in cold water and slowly heated up the water, it would stay in the water and be boiled to death.
The reason why this story was fascinating was that the lesson was on the dangers of comfort. It wasn’t the boiling water that killed the frog, it was the frog’s own comfort that killed itself. We’re very aware when there is stress or pain in our life, in this case, boiling water. However, if you start in a comfortable situation and little things become progressively worse, you may not notice it, and suddenly you’re in a bad situation.
Why do I share this story? Well, last time I talked about being in the discomfort zone where you’re able to grow. Today I want to flip the perspective and look at how being comfortable not only may not be good for us but could potentially be hazardous for us.
Let’s say you’ve been stuck in your house for the last two years... thanks COVID. You haven’t been able to exercise like you did prior to that time and are out of shape. Maybe you’ve put on 19 pounds or more. You don’t like how you feel, so you start to exercise. Except now it’s uncomfortable because of the weight, so you stop exercising and keep doing what you’ve been doing because that’s more comfortable. What begins to happen? That 19 pounds could turn into way more. Besides the added weight, you start to have other health issues that come with the weight. Now 5-10 years have passed and you’re looking at surgery, or maybe a heart attack, or even worse.
How did that happen? Because you chose to stay comfortable. The key question in this situation is how was choosing comfort worse for you? Would you have had a better result if you chose the less comfortable option?
To expand this beyond physical health, maybe we can look at a business situation. Maybe you’re looking at purchasing a ticket to an event so you can run your business better. That event costs a lot of money… so do you fork over the money? It’s definitely uncomfortable paying for it, especially if you’re not used to spending that kind of money on yourself. But what are you losing out on by not buying it? Yes, you have to spend a lot of money right now, but how quickly could you make that money back from what you learned at the event? Also, not only would you be making that money back, but you’ve increased your money-making potential, so you would continue to make more money afterward.
So if I could put the last few articles into perspective as a way to help with your decision-making process when it comes to personal growth, I would ask you the following questions. What do you have to gain by stretching and being uncomfortable? What do you gain by staying where you are? What do you lose out on by stretching yourself and being uncomfortable? What do you lose out on by staying comfortable? By looking at your choices through these questions, you should get much more clarity on what is worth the discomfort and what isn’t worth the discomfort.
So now I’m curious… where have you stayed a little too comfortable? Let me know!
Kevin Koo is a professional coach who specializes in personal, business, and leadership development while investigating what else tastes like chicken (hint: frog). Contact him at kevinkoocoaching@gmail.com
