How staying in the Comfort zone kills you?

Not sure who was the original author to attribute this article to, but recently I got this as a forward from one of my colleagues and I’m really impressed by the metaphor used on why it is important to get out of your comfort zone.

The story goes like this… A mouse was put into a jar filled with grains. He was happy to find so much food around him. Now he didn’t need to run around searching for food and could happily eat as much as he wanted. After some time he reached the bottom of the jar.

Now he was trapped and he could not come out of it. He had to depend upon someone to put grains in the same jar for him to survive. He may not get the grain of his choice and he had to feed on whatever may be put into the jar.

Here are the four lessons that this story tells you –

Short term pleasures can lead to long-term traps.

It is a human tendency to chase short term pleasures and stay in the comfort zone. Our society in general is also obsessed and caters only to our short-term instincts. But these are really traps set forth to stop us from reaching out for the long term benefits.

If things are coming easy and you are getting comfortable, you are getting trapped into survival mode.

When everything is urgent, emergency, or overwhelming, you are in survival mode. You don’t really have any control or joy. Acknowledging the fact and taking actions instead of whining about it will get you back in the driver’s seat and take control of your life.

When you are not using your potential, you are losing it.

While the time it takes to lose a skill might not be directly proportional to the time it takes to learn those skills, not using a skill does mean you are losing it and will lose your ability to perform that skill after sometime.

If you don’t take the right action at the right time, you will finish what you have and will be in no position to come out.

Timing is everything, but taking the right actions at the right time is the key. If you miss out on the opportunities presented to you, there might not be another chance anytime sooner to regain what was lost.

So, it’s wise to challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone. In other words, upskill yourself continuously, and it’s never too late.

Read more about my random thoughts here.
What do you think about the importance of getting out of your comfort zone? Leave your comments here or on Twitter @testingchief.