Was chancing upon this article that I shared via my LinkedIn, 2.5 years back and thus thought that I shall repost this as a reminder. X
The economy is bleak with a gloomy outlook shadowing the small red dot… This doesn’t stop me from finding an opportunity out there, out and away from my so-called “comfort zone”.
To be frank, I am comfortable with the work that I am doing, for the true fact that I had been in the company for 6 years, doing the same routine and the lifestyle of having to do shift works had been accustomed to. The colleagues are like my family and the workplace is just like a second home furthermore, I am in the Public Service, it would be a real stable job and importantly, stable amidst the uncertain economy thus many ask me the million-dollar question…
WHY DO YOU WANT TO MOVE OUT FROM THE COMFORT ZONE?
I took 2 months to decide on my new career path and I made it based on a few reasons and thought, perhaps it’s good to share in order to help those in a similar situation when they are deciding on the switch.
1) BROADEN YOUR PERSPECTIVE
I guess many of us always hear from the bosses that we need to inject new ideas to propel forward however this could be a double-edged sword to an extent. For organizations exclude the Government servants, profits are the main key to drive the company forward. Staying in the comfort zone would not broaden your perspective as everyone had been instilled the mindset that certain things need to be done only this way. It’s a repeated formula and a successful one but nowadays people are educated with the given technology, one will always need to break the norm and to do so, one needs to go out to see what is out of that comfort circle. It’s like the mundane education that we promote from Grade to Grade.
Just imagine this that we do not propel forward if we stay put in Grade 1, forever. Or do we still remember that we took on Science at Grade 3 and it was a subject that was not taught in Grade 1 and 2 and everyone was just excited to know about this new subject and realized the fact that there is THIS SUBJECT and the anticipation to know more awaits?
Travelling does has the same effect. 🙂
2) TO LEARN NEW THINGS/ KNOW NEW PEOPLE.
With that perspective being different, one would be anticipating a new life ahead in a strange environment, with an open mind. It’s important to throw away the mindset from the previous job to stick to the norm as the successful formula may differ from the job. Having an open mind, one would be able to learn new things and forged new friendships. One should never stop learning and learning at times will give us surprises in Life and perhaps unearthed our hidden talent. Think about this… Ever thought that in life you might not even know how to fry an egg? But again, all thanks to cookbooks, MasterChef shows and tons of practice, you manage to fry not just an egg, but perhaps, steam an egg, make an omelette and etc… How does one do that? Learn and practice and somehow it repeats. No one knows how to do that job in the first place, everyone started from somewhere and learn along the way, from people and from many other sources.
3) CAREER PROGRESSION/ MAKE YOURSELF MARKETABLE
Always move for career progression if your current place is stagnant. Please do not get me wrong, I am not recommending job-hopping. Someone should stay at least 3 years to learn almost ALL the ropes within the Organisation. Compare this. Candidate A with 10 years in the same company but with/ without steady progression but on another hand, Candidate B with 10 years in 2 companies with the fact that it’s always a career progression path (Executive >>> Manager). Employers will look at both and perhaps, Candidate B pose more exposure which meant, they are open to changes (it’s a hard truth that it’s evitable in current world) and perhaps had more experience in dealing with sticky situations. Employers want to employ talents to solve their problems BUT not to create more problems or left the problems unsolved. Getting out of comfort zone proved your willingness to take up risks and challenges, this gonna be a competitive advantage from the peers who followed the norm. Successful people always do not follow the norm. Quote Steve Jobs.
4) YOU WON’T FEEL THAT PINCH – MONETARY CONTENTMENT
Especially you are doing a total career switch of industry. As you climbed higher and normally the more years you spend in the organization, you command more pay but if you are going to do that switch, the other industry might not meet your current pay package and you might suffer a big gap. The sooner you start to figure out what you want, the lesser pinch you will feel in terms of monetary contentment. And in reality, we need that money to finance whatever we have and to keep us going.
5) THE #YOLO THEORY
#YOLO. There will never be a good time to move out from comfort zone and when the right opportunity come by, why not especially when one had no commitments – kids and one is still young especially. The younger generations will need to explore out from their comfort zone because this is an advantage. If the opportunity came and it wasn’t the right one, the young ones can restart the career again as they had plenty of time to catch up. On a bonus note, if the opportunity tends to be a passion/ hobby. 🙂 Importantly, no regrets till the very last breath. I heard feedback from my current colleagues whom some had stayed in the job for more than 30 years and regretted not stepping out to see the world.
AND A BONUS POINTER,
If you wake up in the morning and dreads going to work. It’s time for a change. Research says that the more motivated you are towards your work, it drives a higher efficiency in the job. Also, some of you might just want to get away from negative energy/ toxic people.
Importantly, we must always enjoy what we are doing and STAY HUMBLE.
Good Luck.
SPECIAL SHOUT OUT:
To my colleagues (Jolene, Radzi, Andrew, July, Esther, Ervin, Andy, Michael, Qinghui, Mdm Lau, Angela, Noraini, Ris and etc…) who enriched, endured and endeared my 6 years stay in People’s Association who made me feel like home and treated me as a family member. I will miss you all.
To my superiors, family members and close friends who are supportive of my move. I will be grateful as it gives me a push to leap forward.
I would like to thank the superiors (ex-superiors too) and the current organization for all the opportunities given.
To all the friends who I had made during these 6 years, thank you because I am glad to have known you all and it’s you who made Who-I-Am today.
Cheers.
