A Dangerous Place

I’ve been feeling a feeling, this whole month, and now that I think of it retroactively, it just makes sense that I felt that way.

Comfortable.

And that’s a dangerous place.

When I wasn’t working, I travelled a bit, spent some quality time with close ones, spent some days in bed doing absolutely nothing, spent some days in bed absolutely ill – for the most part, comfortably.

I procrastinated a bit, but I always got work done. But where this weighed me down, is the one place I can never afford to give in to it –  from writing.

It was good for me to experience this right now, right at the start of a year which is going to be very eventful. It’s almost like I had the chance to shake off any lethargic inertia. Maybe I wanted to see how it felt again, to give in to nothing, to oppose the drive, stay in my place (which really isn’t bad at all – home is great, work is awesome, relationships are solid).

Why then do I feel mediocre?

Over 4 years ago I made a huge change in my life to get away from this very familiar feeling. I moved to New York City – talk about getting out of your comfort zone right?

They said if you could make it New York, you can make it anywhere. I said why would I want to?

Yet here I am.

The short span of these past few weeks has taught me lessons, some new, some to reiterate, but all of them important for me to share with you all in the hope that these help you, just as they did me.

Stay inspired.

Challenge yourself.

Know what drives you.

Know your strengths.

Know your obstacles, and know how soon you overcome then. 

An issue which took you days to get over, now may take you minutes. So adapt accordingly.

Pivot. Because things will almost never go as planned.

But know your North Star goal – keep your eye on it, but more importantly be real about the way you feel about it.

You don’t have all the answers. But you do have the means to find them.

Prioritize you, and that what is important to you.

Give yourself time to space out.

Give yourself space to do nothing.

Know when to get back into the game.

Also, you will always get back in, go on.

Nothing happens overnight. Patience and hard work is key.

It’s not about how much sleep you get, it’s about what you do when you are awake.

Fear kills growth. Adversity fosters it. Train yourself for adversity. Because you can’t love it just when it’s convenient.

Self-awareness wins.

As I stand at the inception of some unfamiliar exciting times, where I know I will be tested. I will have to face fears and obstacles. I will have to think fast, act faster. I know I will be tempted to stay in my comfort zone. That’s exactly when I should sense the danger and run – towards my dreams, even if they are vague and distant and colorless – they are mine, they are there, they are worth it!