Human Rights

Human Rights  » The Comfort Zone

The Comfort Zone

I have a friend named Gene, a serial entrepreneur who currently

runs a software business. Like many people, last year was a

tough one for his company. They survived largely by providing

add-on services to existing customers - a decent response to

difficult circumstances. They even grew revenues a bit. But

here's something else that happened: They got comfortable. They

decided they could exist on their base of customers, and then

they "realized" there would be no new ones.

Is that bad? Isn't that just accepting reality as it is?

It might not be bad, except that Gene's people got used to the

idea of "no new customers", and it stuck with them. They've

continued to draw revenues from this satisfied base, but lead

generation and prospecting has remained almost nil. They are now

looking at an empty pipeline, and unless things change soon, I'd

say the forecast for the future is not bright.

There is a state of mind I'd like to acquaint you with known as

the comfort zone. Perhaps you are already familiar with this

insidious disposition. Did I say insidious? How can comfort be

insidious?

You know, don't you.

You get seduced by the status quo. You think things are pretty

good the way they are. You like it this way, and you don't

really want anything to change. When I was a young pup at

General Electric we called this state of being "fat, dumb, and

happy". And after a while, your progress grinds to a halt.

Comfort is defined as a condition or feeling of pleasurable

ease.

You can become comfortable with all sorts of things - good and

bad. You can become comfortable with your existing level of

business - even if it is not quite as much business as you'd

like. You know how to handle it, you can keep your staff size

level - and you know how much profit you can earn from it.

Or you can become comfortable with your sources of business -

even when your niche is shrinking. After all, you understand

these types of customers. You know their personalities. You are

familiar with how these particular people will react to your

ideas. Isn't this great, you think.

You can become comfortable with your competition - even if they

are bigger or more nimble or just plain better than you. At

least you know where you stand, right? And since you think their

moves are predictable, you perceive a measure of safety.

And of course - as you can easily see - each of these situations

is fraught with danger. If not right now, then soon.

What is so comfortable about the comfort zone?

It goes all the way back to pre-history. Human beings like

regularity and predictability. Change is bad. Consider the

existence of a hunter-gatherer - living life in the wild - every

change in the weather...every change in the environment...every

new sound in the night...new people...new animals. Every one

represents a mortal threat.

As modern, civilized people, we still prefer it when things

remain constant and stable. We've learned the right responses so

we feel adequate to the challenge. We know how to gauge our

efforts, so we don't have to work too hard for acceptable

results. And we can make predictions about the future, so we

generally feel safe.

And it just feels so good.

The weird part is we can be comfortable even when we shouldn't.

Look at Gene's company. These people got so used to others

saying no to them, they just stopped looking for new business.

At least it was something they understood, right?

Wrong!

Staying in the comfort zone will kill your business, just as

surely as it will kill Gene's.

Why? "My company isn't like his. Our business is sound", you

say. What's wrong with being comfortable, as long as it's the

'good' kind of comfort?

On the face of it, nothing.

Except that things change.

When you are in the comfort zone - that place of pleasurable

ease - it means you have accepted the status quo. You like it,

and you hope things are going to remain just the way they are.

You aren't changing with the changes. You aren't making

progress. You have probably lost sight of your vision, and you

are doing things you've done over and over and over...

You've become fat, dumb and happy.

And the precipice you are rushing towards is just out of sight

around the bend.

What to do about these nice-feeling but dire circumstances?

There are 5 steps to getting out of the comfort zone.

One: Recognize that you are in the C-zone.

Have you become used to the way things are? Have you stopped

pushing your business forward? Have you ceased looking for new

opportunities? Have you given up taking new ground? Have you

taken your eye off the ball? Have you started to let certain

things - things that used to be important - slide? Have you

become comfortable with your current circumstances?

If you have more than one yes - or even one - you are probably

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in the comfort zone.

Two: Re-commit to your vision.

Do you have a vision? Are you passionate about it? When was the

last time you thought about it? Is what you see in your future

the place you really want to take your life?

If you don't think you have a vision, or are no longer feel

strongly about the vision you have, then it's time to do some

vision work. (See www.lemberg.com/articles.html for what to do

next.

Three: Set new goals and objectives.

Where does your newly resurrected vision lead you? What goals do

you want to achieve along the way to realizing it? Be specific.

Be concrete. (You don't have to do a whole strategic plan here -

just get the motor running again.)

Four: Examine the consequences

If you remain in the comfort zone, what is likely to happen

next? What are the consequences of you maintaining your personal

or corporate status quo while the world around you changes? Be

brutally honest. If things truly look rosy, wonderful. Good for

you. But if they don't...

Five: Time to take action

The stuff that used to work, well it don't work now*

In the end, the only thing that really makes a difference is

action. Whether you need a shift in what you do or a shift in

who you are, either way you need to take action for something to

happen. And you may not be used to action - you may have lost

the habit.

Here's the short solution to busting out of the comfort zone:

set five new actions which will move things forward.

Pick one and execute it right away. Start today. The best time

would be as soon as you're done reading this. Then pick another

and do that. And so on.

It sounds simple - and it is! The hard part is lifting off that

easy chair and getting started.

Things feel so good the way they are, don't they?

Don't they?

*Apologies to Warren Zevon.

(c) Paul Lemberg. All rights reserved

About the author:

Paul Lemberg is the president of Quantum Growth Coaching, the

world's only fully systemized business coaching program

guaranteed to help entrepreneurs rapidly create More Profits and

More Life™. http://www.fastergrowthnow.com