I am searching for hotels to stay in as I drive across the country in a few weeks. I comb the reviews. I notice the reviews. The most important thing to me is comfort and cleanliness, although I am not sure anyone could be comfortable in a dirty hotel! I want the bed to be comfortable. I want the room to be comfortable. I want the shower to work well and give me a comfortable experience. Then, I notice how much I love my home. Why? It is comfortable. I like my routines. I like my furniture, the layout, and the colors. My home is like a warm blanket that wraps me up and gives me comfort. I, like most people, crave comfort.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with being comfortable. Except when being comfortable costs you. For the entrepreneur, being comfortable can be a death knell. For an employee in a corporation, being comfortable is the end of their upward career trajectory. In business, when someone says they are comfortable where they are, I know there is a problem.

The problem is when you say to me, a business coach, “I am comfortable”, I know that there is a danger of you not moving forward in your career or business. When I dig into this, I always discover that comfort is code for I am scared of … (fill in the blank). Mostly, what I find is that someone who is trying to achieve comfort in their job or business is afraid of failing. They are silently playing the “What if….?” mental game. The reality is that you will likely fail at times. Failing can be said to simply be that you did not get what you wanted. And you are not a three year old, you can handle that. Stop holding yourself back from growing so you don’t experience not getting what you want. If you don’t step out of your comfortable place, you already are not getting what you want, and are simply telling yourself it is ok. I have never met a person who really did not want to build their business bigger or get ahead in their career. That is simply antithetical to human nature.

Being uncomfortable, stepping into the unknown are natural states of growth. All you need to do is watch young children explore the world for a model. As young children play and interact they are constantly risking physical pain from falling, emotional pain from being rejected by a playmate, and failure at succeeding at whatever they are attempting to accomplish. Yet, children ignore all of this, most of the time, and simply play, explore, try new things and grow.

If you, as an adult in business or in your career, simply embrace the experience, be uncomfortable as you try new things, you will find yourself achieving beyond what you thought you could do. Create it all as a game, like young children, and enjoy the ride.

If you find yourself stopped, hire a coach to break through that mental barrier. Taking action, moving past stop does get you on the path and you may need support. Get what you need to leave being comfortable where it belongs!