I was listening to an interview with Maria Andros and she said something that rang very true to me: “everything you wants lies outside your comfort zone”. What it means to me is that the status quo is detrimental to my personal and business lives.
Having a routine is great… But it doesn’t get you anywhere.
Personally, I love having a routine. A routine is low on stress, it’s comfortable. Heck, it might even be profitable! Unfortunately, we live in a changing world. In business, an unchanging routine might keep you afloat for a while, but your competition will eventually one-up you. In your personal life, a daily routine can be very enjoyable at first, but can become boring in the long run.
Being out of your comfort zone can be stressful.
I believe that being a daring entrepreneur, trying new things, studying new topics, is the only way to go. But it’s also a balancing act. I get really stressed sometimes when running a new project and things don’t go my way (and it almost always happens!) That’s when I go back to my comfort zone – only for a short while – to regroup. That’s when I focus on the tasks I do best, the actions that I know are profitable right now. I don’t try anything new, I work a few short high-energy and high-focus days, and I take the extra time to disconnect – shoot hoops, go to the beach, read Philip K. Dick, buy a shiny new RPG book, or whatever strikes me as fun at that moment.
After a while, it’s time to go back to learning, experimenting, pushing the enveloppe. Unless you’re content being second or third best in your market – which I’m not.
What do you think? What are your stress-beating tactics?
September 1, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Great article here, Yax, and very relevant to me right now.
Life itself can be pretty stressful sometimes, put a fledgling business in the middle of that and trying to push the envelope can sometimes seem overwhelming. Here are a few things I’ve done myself that have helped…
1) Get away from your “zone”, but in a non-stressful way. I find that sometimes the stress I’m feeling isn’t so much from being outside my normal comfort zone, but rather from the aspects surrounding the current situation causing the stress. Go somewhere you’ve never been before – even if it’s just a restaurant, store, the next city over, or just a rural drive to nowhere. A change of scenery can do a world of wonders sometimes.
2) Quiet-time/Meditation. Not always a feasible option, especially if you have a family or children, but finding an hour or two, alone, in a quiet, peaceful place and just relaxing can alleviate a ton of stress.
3) Exercise. Now, I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a big fan of exercise (unless it’s doing something I like such as hiking or spelunking, etc.)… but sometimes a good solid work-out or hitting the weights can help with pent-up frustration and stress. Even if you don’t find it a lot of fun to do, your body needs it, and it makes a big difference.
September 2, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Hi Justin,
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll have to try going somewhere I don’t usually work from when I get overwhelmed.