Your Comfort Zone
Know it or Blow it
Do you have a good awareness of your comfort zone?
I had a nice, long conversation with my 90-year-old mother before she passed away a couple of years ago. She related a story about our mutual friend, Mrs. B, who was our next-door neighbor when I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit. Mrs. B moved to a home in Arizona by herself, as her beloved husband had passed away a few years ago. At that time, Mrs. B was 89 years old.
Mrs. B went to go see her doctor who prescribed a sitz bath. For those who do not know what a sitz bath is, it is just that – a bath in which you “sit.” It can be shallow or a bit more full, and it can contain epsom salts or herbs. The point is, this doctor prescribed a bath to an 89-year-old woman.
A Bathtub Horror Story
She got herself into the tub and then she could not get out. She let the water out and ended up spending the night in that bathtub.
At that point in their conversation, my mom, who pulls no punches, said to Mrs. B: “What the heck were you thinking? You haven’t taken a bath in ten years. Did you think there’d be some kind of divine intervention???”
“So then what happened?” I wanted to know.
It was a Saturday night when Mrs. B had camped out in her tub. On Sundays she was a regular at her local church and when she did not show up at church on the following morning, one of her friends came to see if she was okay. They got her out, and Mrs. B was none the worse for wear, except for maybe a little wounded pride.
Your Comfort Zone in Business
But her experience got me to thinking.
For one thing, maybe we trust in doctors a little more than we should, especially if you know the limitations of your comfort zone.
But beyond that, when it comes to business, it’s a good idea to know the delineation of our comfort zone. If you consulted an expert who told you that in order to reap in more customers you would have to revamp your entire website starting from scratch, or invest in Search Engine Optimization because they had a patented method that guaranteed top placement, or attend a weekend seminar that would guarantee ten new clients, but the seminar cost $10,000… Would you be stepping into a sitz bath from which you could not easily emerge?
What would you do? Would you trust this “doctor” more than the little voice that emanates from your own heart? How familiar are you with the nuances of your very own comfort zone?
Food for thought, isn’t it?
