Does Your Comfort Zone Give You Peace of Mind?
Or does it keep you up at night?
Hustle culture has no mercy. We’re so quick to judge someone who, in our eyes, doesn’t fit into it.
Subconsciously, we label all those who cross our path: the one who works every day until 3 AM, she wants it bad. She is ambitious and has high standards. On the other hand, this one, who comes to the office at 9 a.m. every day to leave quietly by 5? He has zero ambition.
But is our “truth” their reality?
We will label someone lazy just because they don’t fit our own definition of hustling, achievement, and success. But let me tell you something. I used to work 100+ hours a week as a consultant, I was a hustler. Did I feel at peace with myself? Not always.
What do we know about other’s lives?
- Have we seen the hours and nights they spent working towards their dreams to get to this point?
- Do we know how many evenings they spent in front of their computer instead of their loved ones?
- Do we know how they felt when their partners blamed them for not being around as much as before?
Some people have already reached their ultimate goal in life. Their definition of comfort zone might not check your boxes, but it gives them peace of mind. And for others, your hustle might be their comfort zone.
Additionally others are just happy with the way life is. If you feel good about where you are, why would you change?
But what if you’re not happy?
You have the right to change
People want to change for different reasons: they might want more rewards such as money or approvals, or they don’t enjoy what they’re doing anymore.
Is it right to work 100 hours a week? There is no right or wrong answer to the question of whether working that amount of hours is the right thing to do. At one point in time, it might feel right to reach the goals you set for yourself.
But maybe it won’t in the future.
And that is absolutely ok. Maybe you’ll need a break or a complete change of your course of action. Yes, you might be kicking asses and be on top of everything right now. But are you happy? Are you at peace?
You might wake up one day, and it doesn’t feels right anymore. In that moment, take the time to reassess where you’re at.
Allow yourself to take that break. Change the direction of your life, if that means coming closer to the person you want and need to become to feel happy.
But stop doing the things that might burn you out.
What is the point of doing something that affects you mentally and maybe physically? If you don’t have the energy to keep going, you’ll start to get reverse effects. Your effort won’t give you the reward you’re thriving for.
As my friend Zain says, “it’s like standing too close to the fire. Do you wanna stay warm, or do you want to get burned? At a certain point, if you’re getting too close to the fire, it’s okay to step back.”
How comfortable is your comfort zone?
Every day you wake up knowing you’re in the wrong place, maybe with the wrong people. This is not the life you want.
You can’t be at peace with this state of mind, nor feel comfortable.
We tend to stay in our comfort zones because we’re scared of the unknown, even if the unknown has more promises of making us happy than our current situation.
When I started with my job as a consultant, my primary goal was to pay back outstanding debt of € 40.000. Eventually I wanted professional freedom, to undertake any job I wish.. However, even after I paid back my debt I didn’t leave.. I found reasons not to go, and not one of them was a good one in the long term.
I was scared. Scared nobody would want to hire me in my field of interest. Afraid to go back into debt. Afraid to start my own business — because who am I to dare to start such an adventure?
The birth of my child is what gave me the last push I needed to move on. And today, I am happier I took the leap. I haven’t reached a new comfort zone yet, one, that gives me peace of mind, but I’m getting there.
My hustle might be someone else’s comfort zone, and that’s fine by me.
Final thoughts
All over the internet, you can find articles praising why you should go out of your comfort zone. But do you really have to?
We shouldn’t be so quick to label people according to our understanding of comfort zones vs. hustling. Everybody has their own interpretation. Everyone creates their own standard. Work Life Balance, is relative.
Some people tell me how motivated they are to see me hustling like this. But I am sure others feel like I am not doing enough to reach my goals. And in their reality, they might be right.
What’s most important is how you feel about yourself: if you feel there’s something missed from life, then yes, it might be time to test the limits of your comfort zone.
Give yourself the ability to change from one version of yourself to the one you need to be.
Try stuff that scares you and makes you slighly uncomfortable, things outside the realm of normal. Who knows, failing early from experimenting because they might bring you more joy than your current situation.
But if you’re happy where you’re at, if you can sleep at night… If your comfort zone gives you peace of mind, please don’t ever feel bad about it.
People might call you lazy, but well, what do they really know about ya?
