The Agony of Change

Most of us would rather go through a root canal than undergo a major change, even if it’s obviously in our best interest. You know what I’m talking about. Stepping out of your comfort zone—where, by the way, all the goodies are—is…well, just so damn uncomfortable. It’s so much easier to stay where you are, accept the level of “success” you’ve managed to achieve up to this point, and not face the upheaval of change.

Hell, what’s so terrible about mediocrity? Why do you have to listen to that little imp of a voice in your head who keeps telling you that you can be more, if you’ll only get off your dead ass and challenge yourself? Why doesn’t he go bother someone else and leave you in peace, for God’s sake? Not everyone can be great, right? Not everyone is a leader. The world needs followers, too, and if that’s who you’re destined to be, what’s the big deal? So what if you’re in the 80% who only does 20% of the business? You’re making a living, aren’t you? The family is eating, right? So, okay, you’d like to have a nicer house and the kids are going to have to take out loans to go to school, but is that so awful? It’s the norm these days, isn’t it?

And that dream of being an entrepreneur, your own boss, is that so bloody necessary? Not everyone was put on this Earth to control his/her own destiny; besides, who needs all the headaches that come with being the boss? And on and on the excuses flow.

The hard truth is we achieve and grow, become more than we were, only when we’re willing to step out of our comfort zone, when we’re willing to face the agony of change, when we’re willing to sacrifice today to have a better tomorrow. For the vast majority of us, that’s just too much to ask. So we keep going through the motions, piling on the excuses, unwilling to pay the price for greatness, because, oh my, that would entail change.

Besides, there aren’t any guarantees, are there? What if you endured all that upheaval, sacrifice, and things didn’t work out?  What if you failed? My God, that would be so much worse than the mediocrity you’re dealing with now, right? Oh, it gives you the shivers to even think about failing and having to face the world, answer for your lack of ability to succeed. The shame and embarrassment is too awful to even contemplate.

It’s your life, damn it, and if mediocrity is your choice, if you’re not willing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to become what that little imp keeps telling you is your birthright, it’s no-one’s damn business but yours.

So there!

Get your free Preview of Selling Fearlessly’s Chapter 1 here.