Change is always instinctually resisted by most of us.  Being unable to control your own environment can be stressful, scary, or just plain uncomfortable.  Comfort, this is something we are genetically coded to prefer, it’s what most species rely on for survival.  In today’s world, we must learn to step outside our comfort zone in order to succeed, not just survive.

The question becomes, then: should we resist comfort all the time?  The answer is in how you view comfort and what you’re willing to do in order to grow.

Are you too comfortable?

Becoming too comfortable means becoming static, stagnant, stationary, and complacent.  Even if you’re an extremely successful person, financially, there is such thing as being too comfortable, because our minds will start to regress.  It is impossible to grow as a person if you live in your own head, the world around us is changing so fast, so how can you keep up if you are in a constant state of comfort?

Challenge and problem-solving keeps the brain from becoming a stubborn, old, defeatist’s mind.  You ever notice some old people who just simply refuse to accept any outside point of view or opinion?  This is a good example of being too comfortable.  They’ve retired, delegated their lives to “living it up”, and see anyone trying to interfere with that as an enemy.

Staying Motivated

You are going to have to get used to being uncomfortable if you want to stay motivated.  Growing pains are a part of life, so if you aren’t feeling some level of unease, then you’ve stopped growing.  Don’t settle for the status quo, that yardstick was created by someone else’s measure of comfort, so if you follow it, then you could end up selling yourself short.

Keep those wheels spinning in your head, never stop thinking of new ways to improve yourself.  That can be financially, spiritually, socially, or physically.  There’s always room for improvement.

Managing Stress

A little bit of stress can be healthy, this goes hand-in-hand with comfort levels, but weighing yourself down with stress can contradict all the efforts to grow through pursuit of knowledge and opportunity.  Overthinking is definitely a common problem with those who push themselves too hard to improve.  To get around this, you’ll need to set smart goals that are both achievable and far enough in front of you to keep you from ever feeling too comfortable.

Sit down and document what your daily goals are, your weekly, monthly, and finally your long-term goals in the future.  This gives your growth structure and real measurable progress that you can follow.