“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neal Donald Walsch

Life can carry discomfort from time-to-time, because it is just the nature of the life, and  this quote is a reminder to lean into that discomfort. The discomfort often has something to teach us, and we learn a lot about ourselves and other people as a result. It’s a little like learning to use that paddle board. You have to go through the discomfort of falling in a few times before you find just the right balance to stay on top.

I was recently directed to the podcast, Disrupt Yourself, so I listened to an episode yesterday. The premise of the show, as far as I can tell at least, is that each episode is an interview with someone who has made a major change in their life. They’ve created disruption – whether that be a change in themselves, their workplace, or their lives – and ended up on the other side, for the better. The episode I listened to was an interview with Pat Flynn, who lost his architecture job and became a successful online entrepreneur and digital marketer.  I finished the episode feeling inspired and reminded that we need to set big goals for ourselves and take the baby steps – and big leaps – to get there

But, I also contemplated what it is about disruption that scares most people?  The go-to answer might be a fear of failure, but I would also argue that it is often a fear of success. We don’t always believe that we deserve the best and so we keep ourselves locked into a mediocre “good enough” space because, yes, it is comfortable. But evolution doesn’t come from staying comfortable, it comes from putting ourselves in situations where we have to experience discomfort and exercise our skills of flexibility and resilience.

What is it that you’re too comfortable in at the moment?  A relationship dynamic, a career, a way of living? And, what do think it is that keeps you from disrupting the status quo?

I challenge you to consider how you might create a disruption in order to make space for creation to operate and something better to take hold. Set one big goal for yourself with a finite time frame and see what you can accomplish. Learn to fail. The worst that can happen when you fall in the water is that you just get back up on the board again, with more experience.