Comfortable. Providing physical ease and relaxation. Let me take a quick spin down memory lane and describe to you two past lives I've lived.
One peaked around 2014 and took years to reach. I was comfortable. Had a girlfriend. Rarely went outside my comfort zone. I rarely traveled outside my city. I didn't like 'hard' things. I worked out, but lightly. I never pushed myself at my job and was just basically a cube monkey pushing buttons. I had zero career ambitions and figured I'd get promoted by seniority. Poof, girlfriend leaves, a wakeup call. This happened over and over in the past, but this time I got mad and angry. 2015 was completely different.
This is were life #2 started. I started working out 10x harder. Started eating ONLY good stuff with a bit of alcohol mixed in when it was for social gain. At work, I came in each day with a mission and attacked projects and tasks. I put an addendum in my head that if I wasn't promoted or given move opportunities by a date I was out of there. I ended up leaving and increasing my pay 30%. I dated - a lot. Finally got over my bullshit approach anxiety and just did it. I dove into hobbies and became competitive in them. I got off my ass and traveled.
I felt alive at this time after doing this for a little over a year. Each day I got up with immediately, never tired, to some motivational speech. I took cold showers, morning and night. I rarely wasted an hour and was always doing something to better myself. Quite honestly, I was fueled a great bit by 'revenge' and hate. 2016 was more of the same. Traveling kicked up a notch. I was on the road every other weekend. Everything else continued.
Looking back on it, I accomplished a shit ton and had a great time doing it. Yeah, it was tiring at some points, but the payoff was huge. I felt massive progress and change.
As revenge and hate subsided, I slowly became comfortable again. I worked out, but with less intensity. I rationalized "Well, I don't want to hurt myself or be in pain as I get older". I traveled less because it was winter, cold, and I "should really focus on work". At work, I focused on just meeting minimums because there were many less people in the office and many work from home days. I could get up and literally log on my computer from bed. I earned it, right? I need coffee to function in the morning because I can get more done... or because it tastes nice with sugar and I can waste more time in the mornings. I don't need these cold showers - they're just uncomfortable and unneeded, I can get going without them. Trips, outings, and experiences were thrown away because "I could use that money to save for the future". Note each of these is a pure rationalization. I even got to the point where I unsubscribed to TRP because "I don't need that anymore, I'm passed it."
The thing is, you don't see this coming as it happens over months. You didn't instantly become a loser over night. My wake up call this time was our director wanting me to go to Denver in a few weeks and Charlotte the next week. I didn't want to go at all. That's when I realized I'm comfortable. A year or two ago I would have jumped on the opportunity. Free flight, food, and the ability to go somewhere and get an experience haven't had yet? Sign me I would have said.
Remember, it's those little daily things. That cold shower. At workout. Eating well. It's always saying 'yes' to opportunities and only saying 'no' when you don't see a benefit to yourself.
I was going to start tomorrow, but fuck it - it's back to the basics right now. Tonight it's a hard workout again. No more coffee. No more junk food that isn't 'fuel' for the body. I will be going on those work-related trips and I will be outputting energy to get ahead. I learned a valuable lesson that hate and anger can't fuel you forever - at some point the will and motivation to win needs to kick in and take over.
So I ask you, are you comfortable where you are at now? If you are, make sure tomorrow it's the most uncomfortable day you've had in a while.