"If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine - it's lethal."
- Paulo Coelho
Have you ever found yourself getting so comfortable in certain areas of your life that you never stopped to evaluate whether or not it is serving your best interest? When it comes to our careers, relationships, health and overall life satisfaction, we may get into such a comfortable routine that it feels good. It's familiar. However, familiar and comfortable can eventually lead to lowering the bar on quality of life expectations. That comfort can also lead to the discomfort of regret or despair due to lack of motivation or ambition.
To be clear, for people who have thriving careers, rewarding relationships and healthy self-care habits, there is no such thing as being too comfortable. They prefer the challenge of creating a better quality of life for themselves. I'm referring to anyone who feels like they may have taken the safe route instead of the more difficult, but more beneficial and prosperous one. This is how people get stuck in broken relationships and dead-end jobs. It's how I allowed myself to reach a low point in life by neglecting my physical and mental health.
This is why it's important to do check-ins with ourselves every now and then to make sure we are not getting too comfortable or complacent in the important areas of our life. Have you done a check-in with yourself lately? Career? Relationships? Self-care? To-Do/Bucket List? It can be easy to get too comfortable and put things off until tomorrow or next week. The problem occurs when tomorrow and next week turn into next month and next year. Then, the excuse becomes, "I'm too old to do anything about it now."
It's never too late to demand better for ourselves. It requires journeying through the potential discomfort of change to avoid the potential discomfort of settling for less. If we are taking good care of ourselves, we should always be pursuing or maintaining fulfilling careers and relationships that provide a stronger sense of wellbeing, while maintaining proper mental and physical health. Sometimes, we may think we are comfortable, but we know we are capable and deserving of so much more. Have you noticed any areas of your life where you may be getting too comfortable?
More Wellness!
Thrive Global: 8 Subtle Ways You’re Getting Too Comfortable With Your Everyday Life
Very Well Mind: How to Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
BetterUp: How to get out of your comfort zone (in 6 simple steps)
