019: Are We Juggling?

The hardest part of juggling is deciding to toss that second ball into the air. The first one is easy. We can all toss a ball up and catch it, that is in our comfort zone, there’s no risk. The third one is easy as well. At that point we’ve got 2 balls in the air, we’re committed, we don’t have time to think, or second guess - we just go for it. It’s that second ball that’s hard. Up until the point of release we’re still in our comfort zone, we’re just tossing one ball and we can handle that. We still have a moment to think though, a moment to question if this is a good idea, a moment to second guess ourselves. In that moment it’s very easy to hold back, to just catch the first ball and try again. We repeat, toss the first ball, hesitate, then catch. Are we trying to juggle or are we just trying to not drop the ball? I think many of us are just doing the second, forgetting that the goal is the first.

Your comfort zone is not serving you. Sure, you’ve probably gotten really good at a lot of things. You may have found a sweet spot in your career, even if it’s not where you ‘want’ to be, it’s stable enough and you’re happy to keep working away, trying for the next level. But are you really trying to push through or are you happy in your comfort zone?

What happened the last time an opportunity came up for you, and not the same type of opportunity that always comes up. Something completely different, something that had no guarantee of working out, but could result in great things if it did. Something that would push you past your comfort zone. Did you hesitate? Did you second guess yourself? Did you just keep tossing that one ball up in the air so you wouldn’t drop it? Afraid of losing what you currently have. We feel like this is making the smart choice, that we are analyzing the situation and weighing the possible benefits vs. the risk. In this analysis we miss the point. Tossing a ball in the air is a task, juggling is an art. You are an artist, and you’re not going to get better at that without dropping some balls now and then. You’re not going to get to the next level unless you push past your comfort zone and take some risks. You’re never going to learn how to juggle 5 balls until you fail at juggling 3 many, many times. If you’re waiting for the crowd to show up because of the potential you know you have, then you need to understand that they won’t. You need to take some risks to embrace that potential before anyone will notice what you’re up to. People respond when there's some risk involved, when an artist puts themselves out there, just past their comfort zone. That’s exciting. 

I know this is pretty metaphorical (as are most of The Ascender emails) and some people would probably like some more practical advice, some ‘hacks’ that will make getting to the next level easy. The reality is, there is no easy path - and the path is different for everyone. The one thing I can say for sure is that you will have a much better chance to succeed if you take some risks, push past your comfort zone and try to stand out, rather than fitting in. You can keep standing there, tossing one ball up, second guessing yourself and hoping one day you’ll be a juggler, or you can toss that second ball in the air and go for it. And remember what I said at the beginning, once that second ball is in the air, it becomes easy - you’re committed.

~ Steve