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Your Best Year Ever — Chapter-09: Seriously, Risk Is Your Friend
- Source: /library/Your Best Year Ever/source-file.pdf
- PDF pages: 110–124
- Pages without text: 112, 120
- Note: Includes the Step action plan that closes this step.
9 Seriously, Risk Is Your Friend By reaching for what appears to be impossible, we often actually do the impossible; and even when we don’t quite make it, we inevitably wind up doing much better than we would have done. JACK WELCH Most of us have heard the popular story of the first marathon. After the Athenians defeated Persian invaders at the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, a messenger ran twenty-six miles to share the exciting news. But in his book The Road to Sparta, ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes shares the real story, and it’s far more compelling. The runner, whose name was Pheidippides, actually ran more than 150 miles all the way from Athens to Sparta—and then back again—before the battle. And Karnazes says the same runner might have run the final stretch after the victory at Marathon for a total of more than 325 miles! That might sound far-fetched, but Karnazes then recounts the story of a British Air Force commander named John Foden. In 1982 he led a small group who ran the distance from Athens to Sparta in under thirty-five hours. A year later Foden cofounded a 153-mile race retracing his steps. It’s called the Spartathalon. Karnazes ran it in 2014. As an ultramarathoner, he’d already run 350 miles nonstop. But the Spartathalon held mammoth challenges of its own, including Karnazes’s determination to run the distance with only the foods Pheidippides would have eaten: olives, figs, and cured meats.1 Why would a person willingly go through something like that? “Western culture has things a little backwards right now,” Karnazes once told Outside magazine.
“We think that if we had every comfort available to us, we’d be happy. We equate comfort with happiness. And now we’re so comfortable we’re miserable. There’s no struggle in our lives. No sense of adventure.”2 That observation applies to all of life, especially our goals. When it comes to meaningful achievement, comfort equals boredom and low engagement. When I first heard about Karnazes several years ago, I was so inspired I made a commitment to run my first-ever half marathon. I’ve run several since, though it’s never easy. And that’s good. You and I should embrace discomfort for at least three reasons, whether we deliberately choose to or it simply happens to us. First, comfort is overrated. It doesn’t lead to happiness. It often leads to self-absorption and discontent. Second, discomfort is a catalyst for growth. It makes us yearn for something more. It forces us to change, stretch, and adapt. Third, discomfort signals progress. When you push yourself to grow, you will experience discomfort, but there’s profit in the pain.
Personal engagement, satisfaction, and happiness all come when we’re gunning toward significant, risky goals. Maybe it’s launching a new product, going back to college, or reviving a struggling relationship. If dreaming about a goal that big makes you feel uneasy, you’re on the right track. How can you confirm you’re heading the right direction? I like to find out where someone’s goals relate to three specific zones. I use this same technique when evaluating my own goals. The three zones are the Comfort Zone, the Discomfort Zone, and the Delusional Zone. The Comfort Zone We all have dreams for a better future. We set goals for improving our health, our family and friendships, our finances, our work lives, and more. When we start dreaming about the future, however, our aspirations can feel too fragile and too far away. We jump ahead of ourselves and start worrying about how we’re going to achieve those goals. Then, because we let the how overshadow the what, we downgrade our aspiration. We don’t see how we can accomplish more, so we throttle back our vision, convinced our goals must be “reasonable” or “realistic.” We aim low. We settle for less. And what we expect becomes our new reality. But the old adage is true. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The Chicago architect Daniel Burnham said it this way in 1907: “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not themselves be realized. Make big plans, aim high in hope and work.”3 The science backs him up. Goal researchers have documented a strong, direct relationship between the difficulty of our goals and the likelihood we’ll achieve them—not to mention greater motivation, creativity, and satisfaction. For a goal to matter, it has to stretch us. That means it has to stand somewhere outside our Comfort Zone. If you know exactly how to attain the goal, it’s probably not far enough. I recently watched a documentary about amateur ultramarathoners who were running more than six hundred miles across four different deserts.4 One of the runners, who had done only a few small races before, decided to sign up. What’s instructive is why. He’d never done anything like that before, he said, but he knew he’d figure
it out once he committed. I’m not saying you need to sign up to run hundreds of miles in four of the world’s most inhospitable places. But if you have all the financial, emotional, and physical resources you need right now to accomplish your goal—in other words, if you can easily imagine completing the challenge—it’s probably not challenging enough to be compelling. We know from the science of goal setting that rising to the inherent risk of a goal creates huge emotional gains for us. “When goals are set too low, people often achieve them, but subsequent motivation and energy levels typically flag, and the goals are usually not exceeded by very much,” according to Steve Kerr and Douglas LePelley of Chancellor University. But, they say, “difficult goals are far more likely to generate sustained enthusiasm and higher levels of performance.”5 In other words, we get more out if we put more in. Let’s say you’re the sales manager of a small manufacturing plant. You’ve been growing at 5 percent a year, and this year you’re going to set your growth goal at 6 percent. Is that going to heighten performance, engage your creativity, or up your enthusiasm? No way. Small goals just aren’t very compelling. If we want to win, we need to get beyond our natural urge to play it safe, jump outside our comfort zones, and set some risky goals. Now imagine if that growth goal was more like 20 percent. Delivering that result will require more from you than you currently know how to manage. That’s when growth happens. Or take a personal instead of a professional example. If you’ve run a 5K and you want to stretch to a 10K, maybe that’s really not the best goal. What about pushing for a half marathon? The idea with a risky goal is to leap out of your Comfort Zone and into your Discomfort Zone. Playing it safe won’t reap the same kind of rewards. The Discomfort Zone You’ve probably already experienced Discomfort Zone benefits to some extent before. Maybe it was learning a new skill, meeting a new person, or taking on a challenge you’d never done. We don’t often enjoy these things when they are happening, but looking back, we have to admit: the really important stuff of life happens outside your Comfort Zone. This is where
the growth happens, where the solutions are, where fulfillment resides. But instead of encountering this retrospectively, we can engineer these experiences by intentionally embracing goals with greater levels of risk baked in. Jack Welch calls this “bullet train thinking.” He took the name from a revolution in Japanese transit. Traveling by rail from Tokyo to Osaka once took more than six hours. This slowed down business, and executives wanted the time cut. But they didn’t establish “realistic” reductions in time, say, bringing the trip under six hours. Instead, they wanted to cut it in half. To meet the goal, engineers scrapped conventional solutions, rethought the entire problem, and revolutionized Japanese transit in the process.6 For a goal to be meaningful, its attainment should lie in the Discomfort Zone. You’ll know you’re there when you start feeling emotions we normally consider negative: fear, uncertainty, and doubt. When rightly understood, these supposedly negative emotions work like indicator lights telling us we’ve arrived. When we don’t see the path, or we’re unsure about having what it takes to reach the goal, then we’re closing in on a goal worth trying for. That looks different for everyone, of course. I’ve been working with a personal trainer for a while now. The other day my team and I were shooting video for a new project. Earlier that morning my trainer put me through a rigorous leg workout. It shredded me. And I was really feeling it as I was standing there in front of the camera. But, honestly, I felt great. The discomfort tells me I’m making progress and becoming stronger. Instead of shrinking from discomfort, I let it guide me toward accomplishment. Most people shrink back when they feel negative emotions. Don’t. They might just be markers you’re on the right path. You need to be smart about this. For instance, in the business environment there’s a big difference between setting bold goals and managing up. It might be unwise to publicly stand for a certain goal that’s on your personal goal list. There’s nothing wrong with having a public number that’s in your Comfort Zone and your personal stretch goal that’s beyond it. But how do you know if your goal is challenging or just crazy? There is also a difference between discomfort and delusion.
The Delusional Zone When General Motors blew its 29 percent goal and damaged its viability as a company, many used it as a warning about the danger of goal setting. They said goal setting doesn’t work, or that it causes more problems than it solves. But GM didn’t fail because it set a challenging goal. It failed because it wandered into the Delusional Zone. The goal encouraged tunnel vision and reckless strategies. GM was so focused on hitting 29 percent, it lost track of the rest of its business and tried hitting the goal using strategies that ultimately undercut its financial health. Relevancy, as we discussed in the SMARTER framework, can prevent this kind of self-destructive goal seeking. Some goals are simply impossible and fail to align with the rest of our priorities. They don’t inspire; they ensure failure. We can all step into the Delusional Zone if we’re not careful. Me thinking I could play on the PGA senior tour, for instance—that’s delusional. Ask anyone who’s ever played golf with me. What about the guy who decided to run across four deserts? That sounds delusional, right? It does until you consider the fact that he had always been fairly athletic, was highly determined, and was running with a close-knit group of supportive fellow travelers. What about you? How can you tell you’re veering into crazy town? Sometimes it’s just math. In his one-day EntreLeadership event I heard Dave Ramsey mention a salesperson who set a goal of calling a huge number of new leads in a certain period of time. Did Ramsey praise him for his bold stand? Nope. He called foul. Ramsey showed the salesperson there wasn’t enough available time in the week to accomplish the goal. The guy had lunged right over the Discomfort Zone into the Delusional Zone.
Risky goals are a must. That means discomfort is a positive indicator. When you set goals, avoid staying in your Comfort Zone. Be sure to avoid the Delusional Zone too. Other times talking with a spouse or someone close to you can help. We’re rarely as good at identifying our blind spots as others. They can sometimes see how a goal is missing the relevancy we think it has. And here’s a warning. You don’t need one crazy leap to land in the Delusional Zone. Sometimes we can drift there with the accumulated demands of multiple goals. I see this when people plan major deadlines simultaneously or stack up projects one after another without enough margin. You know what happens next. It’s a train wreck just waiting to happen. Goals in the Discomfort Zone challenge us and summon our best performance. Goals in the Delusional Zone invite defeat and merely leave us frustrated and discouraged. What I like to do is set a goal that’s almost delusional and then dial it back a few clicks. Then I land somewhere in my Discomfort Zone. Preparing for the Journey I’d like to return to the story of 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever alum Natalee. Before moving with her family to a new city, she launched an
online branding and marketing consultancy. She had started another business once before and was ready to do it again. Natalee was able to turn a previous professional relationship into her first client, but getting traction was hard at first. “I knew I wanted to continue to grow my business and I wanted to do something entrepreneurial,” she said. But it wasn’t easy with the move and young kids. Despite the challenges and uncertainty, she ventured out two years ago and set a goal to grow her business. The journey had its bumps and turns, but she figured it out along the way and took her business from one client to six. “I love that I’m being an entrepreneur,” she said. “It’s so liberating to do something I’ve always dreamed of doing. I’m very proud of the fact that I’ve gone out and I’ve done that. I’ve created value in the world.” Running her own business began as a dream. Then it became a daunting goal. After that it was her day job. This year she set the goal of creating $10,000 in revenue from her business in one month. It was a stretch, and she admitted she thought it was close to the Delusional Zone. “I thought for sure it would take me till December,” she said. But no. She actually managed it by March 30. “I literally am blown away,” she said. “Limiting belief: crushed.” Natalee directly benefited from the performance boost of challenging goals. And you can too. Your best year ever lives somewhere beyond your Comfort Zone. If that’s true, and I believe it is, how can you prepare for the negative emotions that are sure to hit you during the journey? Let me suggest four ways. First, acknowledge the value. We move toward what we esteem. The first step is simply to confess that getting out of your Comfort Zone is a good thing. This is about trading your limiting belief for a liberating truth. Say it out loud if you need to: “Getting out of my Comfort Zone is good for me!” Remember, unless you do so, you won’t experience the growth you want, the solution you need, or the fulfillment you desire. Playing it safe is not that safe. Second, lean into the experience. So many people shrink back whenever they experience pain. The problem is that this can become a habit—or worse, a way of life. Instead, embrace the discomfort. Move toward it. “What I’ve found is that I’m never more alive than when I’m pushing and I’m in pain, and I’m struggling for high achievement,” says Karnazes. “In that struggle I think there’s a magic.”7 This is an important step in
accomplishing anything significant. You have to go through the realm of discomfort to get what you want in life.
Third, notice your fear. If you feel anxiety, trepidation, or uncertainty, that’s normal. But you don’t have to be controlled by it. Yes, fear can signal danger. But it can also indicate you’re on your way to a breakthrough. I met a BASE jumper in Switzerland a few years ago. He told me he feels almost unbearable fear every time he jumps. He’s consumed with it the moment his feet leave the mountain until his chute opens several seconds later. Why? “Maybe today’s the day my chute won’t open,” he thinks. Despite his fear, however, the prize is greater than the worry. When the negative emotions well up, which they invariably do, he separates himself from them, minimizes them to focus on his jump, and then goes. Often, the ability to push through fear is the only thing that separates those who succeed from those who fail. Fourth, don’t overthink it. This is my biggest temptation. I want to know the entire path. I want a map to the destination. Alas, I rarely get one. But that’s okay. All you really need is clarity for the next step. When you get it, take the next step in faith, believing you will be given the light you need to take the next one. Growth in the Journey If you are out to accomplish significant things in your life, you are going to be spending a lot of time outside your Comfort Zone. You might as well get the most out of it. You can either be comfortable and stagnate or stretch yourself—become uncomfortable—and grow. You may think that comfort leads to happiness. It doesn’t. Happiness comes from growth and feeling like you are making progress. As we try to set risky goals, it’s important to remember what goals are for in the first place. They are about getting things done, yes. But it’s more than that. A goal is not just about what you accomplish. It’s about what you become. Goals are about growing. A good goal causes us to grow and mature. That’s because every goal is about the journey as much as—even more than—the destination. And that’s exactly why setting goals outside the Comfort Zone is so important.
STEP 3 ACTION PLAN
- Set Your Goals Set seven to ten goals you want to achieve for the year. Make them SMARTER: ‣ Specific ‣ Measurable ‣ Actionable ‣ Risky ‣ Time-keyed ‣ Exciting ‣ Relevant Make sure you focus on the Life Domains where you need to see improvement. List just a few per quarter; that way you can concentrate your attention and keep a steady pace throughout the year.
- Decide on the Right Mix of Achievements and Habits Achievement goals represent one-time accomplishments. Habit goals represent new regular, ongoing activity. Both are helpful for designing your best year ever, but you need to decide on the right balance for your individual needs. The only right answer is the one that works for you.
- Set Goals in the Discomfort Zone The best things in life usually happen when we stretch ourselves and grow. That’s definitely true for our designing our best year ever. But it runs counter to our instincts, doesn’t it? Follow these four steps to overcome the resistance:
- Acknowledge the value of getting outside your Comfort Zone. It all starts with a shift in your thinking. Once you accept the value of discomfort, it’s a lot easier going forward.
- Lean into the experience. Most of the resistance is in our minds, but we need more than a shift in thinking. By leaning in, we’re also shifting our wills.
- Notice your fear. Negative emotions are sure to well up. Don’t ignore them. Instead, objectify them and compare the feelings to what you want to accomplish. Is the reward greater than the fear?
- Don’t overthink it. Analysis paralysis is real. But you don’t need to see the end from the beginning or know exactly how a goal will play out. All you need is clarity on your next step.