“Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” – Chinese proverb

One of the most difficult forces we face in our growth journey is the magnet of comfort. Lately I’ve found myself going through the motions a little too often in a couple areas of my life. Once I feel the settling start to happen, it’s an instant signal to me the force of this magnet of comfort has brought me in more than I’d like to admit.

One of the hardest parts about the magnet of comfort is it typically doesn’t stand out as a big issue in the initial moment. Comfort is something we know. It’s something we understand, and our mind loves to gravitate towards it. Naturally, we won’t have sirens going off to identify something is wrong when what we’ve experienced in the past continues to happen.

So, if the magnet of comfort is something we have experienced and understand, what’s wrong with letting the force pull us in?

We are built to grow in life. Progress can be a huge part of living a fulfilled life. When the magnet of comfort pulls and holds tight, growth becomes stunted. We start to settle for what we’ve been used to while the world around continues to rapidly evolve.

At work, the magnet of comfort may hinder us from taking on new projects or expanding our network. In health and wellness, the magnet of comfort may look like running the same 3 miles we always run for a workout and never push for a faster time or longer route.

Magnet of comfort also can be deceiving because in the moment, we don’t feel any failure. It’s the opposite where that short term feeling can seem great because we’re comfortable and have a sense of familiarity. But when you study the impact of the magnet of comfort, it’s not the short-term struggle that’s the concern. It’s the struggle of stunting growth for the long term.

It’s easy for this force that our mind is constantly attracted to has an impact on us. We will start settling at different points in our lives. It’s on us to call ourselves out and disrupt the force of the magnet of comfort. It’s on us to keep empowering ourselves to let growth and progress take place by inviting in challenges. Uncomfortable is not easy. There will always be struggle that comes with going the uncomfortable route. However, the pain that can come from settling and not growing in the long run will be much worse.

Take your step: identify one area in your life you feel like you’re starting to settle in and go through the motions. Take time to reflect on what you want out of this part of your life. It could be work, fitness, a specific relationship, community involvement. Next, think of challenges you’ve started to bypass because of the magnet of comfort. Shift the mindset from settling on comfort to embracing the uncomfortable. See “Your Most Important Metric” for more on embracing the uncomfortable.