Old Chinese Proverb: A man grows most tired while standing still.
Corporate Me
I have been in my role for three years and that’s a good time for the managerial position I am in. I have had a strong learning curve in many areas, have seen more than one organizational change and have managed several teams to consistent success. I am also in a space I did not “grow up in,” so to a degree I started outside my comfort zone moving into my manager role from the beginning. Nonetheless, I have reached a point of frustration. That frustration comes from the lack of ease. This may sound odd, but when you are so saturated in your comfort zone, it often is difficult to break that pattern and step completely outside the zone you are in.
Something I often tell my team whether collectively or individually, mentee’s or anyone else I engage around the topic that complains about the day to day routine within their job is the following:
1. Change It
2. Leave It
3. Shut the F*** Up (Stop whining)
Okay so I don’t say STFU. That would be unprofessional, but I do want to get a point across here. When you get so saturated in your current job role that you begin complaining, than you need to think twice about where you are. If you have a problem within your comfort zone such as issues on a project your leading or participating in, than change it. What can you contribute differently? How can you address a topic from a new perspective? Where can you move your chess pieces so that the issue resolves itself so as to make you comfortable again in your comfort zone? If that’s not the case your next option is to leave it. You are either completely tired of what your doing or you really want to make that next career move but just are not sure whether or not its the right thing? Challenge yourself and move. Leave what you are currently doing and get engaged in something completely new. Remember the learning by doing principle? Step outside your boundaries and see what you are actually capable of. If you do not want to risk leaving it than your last option is to stop whining or stfu. Yes, we all have our days on which we feel like we got up on the wrong side of the bed and notice it is only Wednesday, however if you are going to stay in your comfort zone, and one in which you are annoyed in than stop dragging everyone else down with you.
Hitting a Plateau
To get back on track, I have reached the point of being ready to leave for quite some time. I have made a conscious choice to want to engage and grow myself further in a new area, rather than continuing to motivate myself to engage and see if I can grow further in my current role. Let me visualize that for you. You hit the gym and start benching 20kg. After a few days you notice that by now you are able to go to 50kg. A few months later your at 80kg but you start to notice this is all your body is putting out. Several months go by and you see no increase. Your body has plateaued and you being swaying between 75kg and 85kg as you are not working out any other muscle groups. Now its time to do your traps and focus on those a bit. Stepping out of your comfort zone and growing another muscle group before going back to what you orginally started and eventually benching 100kg. You get the picture, no?
Stan Dale: Comfort zones are plush lined coffins. When you stay in your plush lined coffins, you die.
I feel that I can no longer grow in my role. This does not mean that I have learned everything there is to learn. By all means that would be a plain stupid statement. Yet it is time to craft a new perspective and I have realized that I have been in my comfort zone for far too long and that the time has come for a new corporate risk.
My motivation being not the money, not the fame but the opportunity to put my head back into something where I know I can create again. Work on something new, something that will challenge my skills. Part of being an entrepreneur is about stepping out of comfort zones. Its never about being fully content or completely comfortable. That what drives entrepreneurs forward even for those within the corporate world. I’m an entrepreneur at heart and to create my life in the best way I can is something instilled in me. Heck it should be in everyone. However, part of that “best way” is having financial security, freedom and opportunity to grow in skills and as a person in experience. To me the very fact that I’m an entrepreneur means that I’ll probably continuously step out of that comfort zone, take on new risk to enable me to pursuit the next reward with something new and that goes for my job in the corporate.
We’re not built for comfort zones. Challenge yourself, move to something new. Period.