Way Out of The Comfort Zone
This is from my weekly email series, The Weekly Mixtape. I would appreciate it if you subscribe to newsletter. If you don’t, I can’t make any promises that the ice cream you’ve been saving for a special occasion won’t just disappear.
Hey Indiepreneurs,
My son is now officially in middle school. And if every drop off is like the drop offs I’ve had so far, it’s going to be a long 3 years.
I know it won’t be, though. At some point, he’ll get into a groove, figure out his classroom, and jump out of the car as I slowly drive by the entrance. I may even stop to let him out!
It’s a new experience for him, though. It’s hard, something completely outside of his comfort zone. If his anxiety wasn’t bad enough, he’s heard for years middle school horror stories. These are awkward years where everyone is trying to find their place, some more successfully than others.
Meanwhile, I’m trying to get a business off the ground. I had planned to wait a little longer, let the concept grow a bit more while I drew a steady paycheck. But for reasons too long to put in here, I jumped out of the plane earlier than I’d hoped. And about once a day I start freaking out that my parachute won’t deploy.
This is not my comfort zone either. There are days that I’m reached out for that day job like my son reached out to me and my wife, only to find that its too far away to be a crutch.
I know that my son will eventually figure it out, learning and growing along the way. But he’s in a tunnel and can’t see his way through. Similarly, in the back of my mind I know what I’m doing will be good for me, even if it ultimately crashes in failure. But I’m in my own tunnel, and the other end is out of sight.
Our comfort zone is easy. It’s where we feel good. It’s also where we stagnate.
Now just because something doesn’t feel good doesn’t mean it’ll help us grow, but we’re much more likely to stretch if we can look for those new experiences and learn from them, even if they are scary.
In the meantime, I’ll be in the corner freaking out, hoping that my own words prove true for me.
What experiences scary have you had that ultimately made you better? I’d love to hear your stories to help me get through my own.
The Links
- Another book review up, this one is for the Gentile Marketing Revolution. Check it out!
- My years in Utah cemented for me that there are some weird people in that state. So I’m unsure if this letter to the governor is a joke.
- Great news, gamers! Intel is finally making its own discreet GPU, which will surely be horded by Bitcoin miners and make it so your son can’t get a real GPU for the PC he put together.
Service Dog Update
We had a great week with school starting. First, the boy went to Wilson’s training classes for the second week in a row and did great.
Second, we walked Wilson to both the elementary school and the middle school for the first day of class, and he kept straight on, ignoring all the gawking kids (and their parents). His only lapse was when a Chihuahua walked by (one of the trainers calls these small dogs “bait.” Take from that what you will).
It’s not all perfect. Wilson has started nipping in gusto to get attention, something we’re told to ignore. But like when my son drops f bombs in the middle of church, getting bitten on the butt by a poodle is really hard to ignore.
