Usually around your mid-to late thirties you feel comfortable. You have experienced ‘enough’, done ‘enough’, have a job that you like ‘enough’. You have your comfort zone and don’t want to risk it. This is usually the point in our lives where we can very easily fall into a rut. Refusing to take the harder path.
Playing it safe is cool; nothing wrong with that. But is that really ‘enough’.
The other day we bought a slack-line for P360. Have you seen them? Basically it is a wide but thin piece of very strong fabric that is tied to two anchor points. They are unstable and a huge challenge just to stand on let alone walk across!
I gave it a shot – this was my first time – and of course if failed!
Now; this is the turning point (well an analogy of one anyway!). Do I stay on the ground? Safe, secure, enough. Or do I get up and try again, and again. No matter the frustration, no matter how many times I fail, no matter how long. I choose to try. I choose the harder path.
After many frustrating and failed attempts to walk 10m across the slack-line I was slowly starting to improve, most times walking further than the previous attempt. My brain was adapting and was beginning to send the correct signal timing through the central nervous system to my muscles to stabilise the slack-line. I was getting better! Within 2 days of my first attempt I successfully completed the 10m.
Now; I know that walking a slack line isn’t exactly like navigating through life however I always try and look into things deeper; learn lessons and see how my failure actually is my success.
This inspired me to look deeper into ‘enough’. Here is what I learnt:
- Trying something new means you could fail. Yes, fail! This is not a scary word. Everyone MUST fail to get better. You need to be encouraged to fail in order to learn and grow and that should be celebrated. In reality it’s only failure if you didn’t learn something. Michael Jordan said it well! – “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”.
- Trying something new requires you to leave the ego at the door. Ego is not your friend; and needs to be leashed. Ego will often prevent you from trying something new; especially in front of people; as you may ‘think’ you’re not living up to others expectations. An ego makes you blind to the fact – no one really cares if you fail! An ego makes you question too much – what if you fall, what if you suck, what if, what if, what it. But what if you are great at it! What if you love it! You’ll never know unless you try. By trying something new you are motivating others to do the same. You are leading people to take a chance and showing its ok. Leave the ego at the door
- Trying something new forces you to grow. Who knows! You might try something new (like the slack-line) and find out you are a superstar at it! Or not – doesn’t matter! The point is you tried and that builds confidence, and confidence carries over to other facets of your life. You will also expand your knowledge base and constantly challenge yourself. We need to constantly challenge ourselves both mentally and physically or we become stale and feel like we’re in a rut.
- Trying something new leads to meeting new people. Trying a new sport, joining a new club or even attempting a new career means you will meet new ‘like-minded’ people and develop new friendships. These friendships could open up other potential possibilities in your professional and personal life. Being around and connecting with like-minded individuals provides us with a sense of community and it’s a lot more fun doing things with other people than on your own, especially when they’re supportive and cheer you on.
The next time you want to give something a go for the first time, DO IT!
Remember that we all experience fear, so take a deep breath, get outside of your comfort zone and have some fun. You never know what will happen.
Never say enough!
Brent Coglan
Co-founder Perform 360