One of my biggest fears in life is to find myself regretting what I did not do, not having impact on the world and getting through life with nothing special to show for a life lived.

Maybe this sounds like a positive fear, right? One that can be used for motivating and pushing me to take action.

On the opposite end of this fear is an even worse obstacle to being successful….the obstacle of being COMFORTABLE.

Yup, comfortable.

Why is it you ask that being comfortable is bad?

So, here is my logic. I am an entrepreneur and part of my development in this business has been to look to mentors. People who have been successful and to learn from them. One of the common themes I have noticed in the long list of successful people who I follow is that they were driven to succeed by a need so strong that it forced them to push through their fears. They had nothing to lose and they were sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Many were in very dark places. Facing massive financial debt, living on a shoestring budget, being isolated socially and emotionally and living in fear of losing everything that mattered to them.

What was their motivation for success? It was hunger. The list of people I follow had no special training, no big financial backers or an ivy league education. In fact, some had never finished or gone to college.

Our brains are hard wired to stay in a state of comfort, to avoid fear and live a
“safe” life. That age old mechanism served us well in the wilderness when fear kept us alive. Now, we can skirt by in life quite comfortably without really putting in a ton of effort or facing the things that scare us and hold us back.

Those people, who were sick and tired of being sick and tired, though…they had a hunger that far exceeded their comfort zone. This need to change their circumstances created the will to succeed.

One thing I know for sure is that staying in a state of comfort will not give you the skills you need for a different life. If you want something better for yourself, your family or the world, then you need to become better and you can only do that by stepping out of your comfort zone. Not once, but many times. You must face those roadblocks in your mind that stop you….unless you want to wait for the moment in time (if it ever comes) that forces the change to happen. That moment being the time when your hunger far outweighs your fear!

You may wonder where I am at in this story…I had a few eye opening moments in my twenties. Experiences that taught me how short life can be and that nothing is permanent. I vowed to make my life matter in those moments. That memory is what drives me, pushes me to this day to not only face the fears and moments of being intensely uncomfortable, but to make a difference in the world, to dream bigger.

Whatever it is that is holding you back, realize that that fear will most likely not magically go away. You need an intense hunger to overcome and push through those roadblocks. In order to move past and achieve great things, you MUST get uncomfortable at least multiple times each week or you are not growing and changing and those dreams will not be realized. Get hungry. Make your dreams so necessary that it hurts not achieve them!