Let me begin with a quick hypothetical story.

Let’s say it’s a Friday night in the dead of winter in Chicago.  A guy has the Bulls game on and he’s wearing sweats.  All of a sudden, his beautiful girlfriend calls and says, baby, can you come over?  At first, he makes excuses like I’m tired, I had a hard week.  After half an hour, he thinks maybe it’s not a bad idea.  He agrees, gets up, takes a quick shower, puts on multiple layers of clothing, warms up the car, and goes over to his girlfriend’s house, where they have an incredible night.  They order take-out, open a bottle of wine, and cuddle up in front of a movie.  The time in between hanging up with his girlfriend and thawing out was really uncomfortable, but at the end of the night they were both happy.

You see where I’m going with this?  We all have to get out of our comfort zones.  Let’s look at it this way: the end goal is to get into our comfort zone.  My ultimate comfort zone is sitting with my wife and kids, having a lot of friends, and just making a lot of money. In order for me to do this, I have to force myself to get out of my temporary comfort zone every single day.

When I went to USC, I had to get out of my comfort zone away from my parents and ask people to help me.  That was uncomfortable, but once I got there, I found a way to get everything done that I needed.  I found that I was competing with my classmates and I finally felt at home after I figured out the minutia of how to get ready in the morning and how I was going to get my homework done. Yes, I felt at home.

It is a pain in the butt to travel.  If you think getting through TSA is a hassle, try doing it in a chair made of metal.  In addition, when I get to the gate they put me in a chair, which I call the Hannibal chair.  I get strapped in and I feel like, well, Hannibal.  But I am so comfortable on stage that it’s worth it.

Nobody likes getting out of their comfort zone but it is a necessary part of life.  Anytime you are not comfortable with a situation just imagine the end goal.  That should help push you out of your temporary limbo and propel you towards your comfort zone, and that place in your mind you can finally feel at home.

Timelapse - Lighthouse (Oct 2012) from IMK Digital Multimedia on Vimeo.