#ComfortZone #StayInYourLane #competition #art #music #jobs #employment
The age-old question constantly arises: should one stay in his or her lane, or should one get outside of his or her comfort zone?
Perhaps it depends on the circumstance. There are certainly benefits for a person to do what he or she knows, and do it well.
But, there are other circumstances in which a person should challenge himself, or herself, to do something he or she may have never done, or thought he or she would never do.
As an example of the former, country music singer Blake Shelton, the outgoing coach on the TV singing competition “The Voice,” in the past has advised members of his team, such as some country singers, to stay in their lane.
These singers may be competing with singers who can more easily extend their voices athletically to do things the country singers may be less willing, or perhaps unable to do. But Shelton understands that many of the show’s fans, who ultimately vote for the winners each season, like country music.
So, Shelton may advise those singers to do what they do best, because the fans like that, and will vote for them.
In the latter case, it’s tough to get noticed in the workplace if you are pigeon-holed into a job that limits what you are allowed to do.
Certainly, employers may like workers who are “self-starters” that need little supervision. But if you aspire to bigger and better things, you may have to go outside of your designated area to show what you can do.
In other words, you may be very comfortable performing the assigned tasks you are given. But, you may perform those tasks in obscurity, which may hinder your career progress.
That begs another question: how does one know when to stay in one’s lane, or to get out of one’s comfort zone?
The answer may come down to one’s gut feeling. It may also come down to one’s ambition. In the case of “The Voice” singers, one’s ambition can help them to win the competition. Because it is a competition, one may want to extend his or her talent to the fullest to win. But, because vocal competitions are an art form, rather than an athletic battle, it may be best to do what one does best, to the best of one’s ability.
On the other hand, if you are stuck in a comfortable job but know you have the ability to go further up the ladder, you may have to extend yourself.
You may have to look for things – perhaps extra things – to impress those who have a say in promotions. These extra things may not be easy to find. But, perhaps one must get out of his or her comfort zone to find them.
The fact that a person left his or her comfort zone to do something extra will impress those who need to be impressed.
By doing so, one becomes not only a “self-starter,” but also is motivated to take risks to show his or her talent that may not be obvious from his or her “comfortable” work.
Circumstances dictate how one operates in life. Comfort may be nice, and appropriate in some instances, but sometimes going the extra mile is necessary to impress.
If you don’t have the ambition to get out of your comfort zone, you may have to cultivate it. If you don’t, what’s comfortable now may become stifling in the future.
Peter
Tag Archives: AMBITION
HOLD YOUR HEAD UP; OR, KEEP YOUR HEAD LOW
#HoldYourHeadUp #KeepYourHeadLow #ambition #survival #jobs #goals
Hold your head up.
Keep your head low.
The first concept, the title of a 1972 song by Argent, tells you to put your head up, get noticed and go after it.
The second concept, taken from a 1974 song titled, “Billy, Don’t Be a Hero,” by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods, tells a soldier to keep his head low, avoid getting shot and come back to his fiancée.
In a workplace, do you hold your head up, do something unusual to draw recognition with the intention of attracting the boss’ attention? Or, you keep your head low, blend into the woodwork, thinking, perhaps, that you are less likely to get your head cut off – lose your job, or otherwise get punished.
Different types of people keep their heads in different places. Ambitious people hold their heads up. Those who just want to survive keep their heads low.
If you are in survival mode, stop. Think about what you want and where you want to be. Survival should not be a goal. It may require you to think about what you want your life to look like. EVERYONE has life goals. You can try to survive as a temporary status, but you should have a goal to do something that will get you want you want.
A job is a job, but a life goal may help you convert a “job” into a means to an end.
You may not want to keep your head low forever. You may want to raise your head slowly, and, eventually, keep it up.
A raised head is always better than a lowered one.
Then, you may have to find something to help you keep it up. Your current job or situation may not be it.
For no other reason, keeping your head up will help you help others. Others will respond to people whose heads are up. They may not see, or recognize, someone whose head is low.
“Billy,” the soldier, did not take his fiancee’s advice, according to the song. He volunteered for a risky mission and was killed. The fiancée was told she should be proud, but she threw the notification letter away, the song says.
The fiancée wanted Billy to come home alive, for her own, understandably selfish reasons, Yet, Billy was unselfish.
In short, goals can create ambition. Those who keep their heads low and blend in may never get the life they want. They learn to settle for contentment – or just plain survival.
If you don’t have natural ambition, you have to generate it yourself – and you can. You have to know what you want, why you want it and where you want to go. If you determine all of those things, you can find how to get them.
That is how ambition is created.
Peter
UNFULFILLED AMBITIONS
#ambition #UnfulfilledAmbition #goals #achievement #HardWork
Harry Chapin’s song “Taxi,” talks about unfulfilled ambition.
Or, it talks about fulfilling ambition in a different, less desirable way.
The Chapin character in the song wanted to be a pilot. Instead, he’s driving a cab.
His passenger, an old friend from childhood he hadn’t seen in years, wanted to be an actress. Instead, she married someone rich and is a homemaker.
The two ended up fulfilling their ambitions, sort of, the song says. She is “acting happy inside her handsome home. “ (If you don’t know the song, she did leave him a nice tip). He’s flying high, on drugs, presumably when he’s not driving a cab, the song says.
The song came out in 1972, but its lessons may apply today.
Do you have a worthy ambition? Are there things in the way of you fulfilling that ambition?
Ambitions come in all shapes and sizes. They also come with many pathways, some difficult or expensive, to get there.
In the Chapin song, the cab rider who wanted to be an actress might have found a difficult path to get there. She may have found stiff competition – how many folks want to act as a career? Given those pathways, one has to admire anyone who slogs through the pathway and becomes successful.
Perhaps the cab rider found true love, or just found a “sugar daddy,” and abandoned the path. Perhaps she tried acting and didn’t break through. The song never says.
The Chapin character would have had a rigorous path to becoming a pilot. Not everyone can do it. The song never says how far he’d gotten toward that goal.
The point is that ambition is all well and good. But if you are unwilling to do what it takes, or you don’t get the breaks you need to become successful, you may not achieve them.
So, what if there was a way to achieve your ambitions, just by your effort alone? What if your ambition involves an extensive and expensive education, that may or may not pay off for you, financially, in the end?
Some such ambitions are certainly noble, and would do the world some good. They just may not personally enrich you.
But there are programs out there that, by investing a few, part-time, off-work hours a week to start, can potentially help you over some financial hurdles.
These programs don’t require specific education, experience or background. They merely require an open mind to check them out (they may or may not be for you), and a willingness to be coached.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, having an ambition, or a goal, is better than having none at all. Be mindful of the pitfalls of pursuit, but don’t necessarily let those pitfalls deter you.
You shouldn’t have to settle for something less, if you don’t want to. Try not to rationalize settling as achievement.
Some ambitions take longer than others. You may have to redesign ambitions to suit circumstances, but if you really want something, go for it, no matter what it may take.
Peter