Creating Success from the Inside Out: Develop The Focus and Strategy To Uncover the Life You Want

IV.4. Get Uncomfortable and Face Your Fears

I believe that if there is any secret to success, it is creating a habit of making yourself uncomfortable.

Our mental image of super-success may be some rich fat-cat lazing by the pool in some tropical paradise, smoking a stogie, sipping little drinks with umbrellas, with not a care in the world. A lot of people have similar images about retirement, maybe without all the money but being able to take it easy ... you know, "gone fishing."

The reality is living the "no worries" lifestyle will kill us. We all know being a couch potato creates major medical and physical problems that can destroy us. In the same way, staying in a place where we're mentally comfortable all the time destroys our ability to achieve our dreams. Just like the sirens of Greek mythology, our Comfort Zone lulls us and we end up dashing our ship against the rocks of failure.

A Comfort Zone Is Nothing But a Prison without Walls

When people tell me something makes them uncomfortable, or it's outside their Comfort Zone, I usually say, "Great!" If I want to build a muscle, the only way I can do it is to become uncomfortable or to go outside my normal zone. I may like lying on the couch watching football games and reruns, sucking down sodas, and grubbing on potato chips, but to get strong I have to go to the gym. And then I have to pump iron, sweat off the fat, and push myself past my comfort limits. In other words, I have to get uncomfortable and just deal with what has ...