Welcome to 91st Monday Musings:
This week I will continue from my previous week’s Monday Musings…
After an initial hard phase, Henry Ford's parents started doing well in America and they settled on a farm in Dearborn.
For young Henry, this meant that he need not struggle like his parents.
He could settle comfortably well in his father's farm. However, Henry chose a tougher path. When he was 16 years, he left the farm, and proceeded to Detroit, where after much struggle he found work as a mechanic's apprentice
His dream break followed soon, in the form of an offer as an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company, where he would eventually climb the ladder to be the chief engineer.
Henry could have again very well settled into his comfort zone. He decided to break the mould this time again. He realized that there was a huge opportunity, if he could build a car which the masses of America could afford, since till then a car was a luxury reserved for the richest class.
He set his eyes on building such a car and toiled relentlessly towards it in a shed at the backyard of his family home. Most people, including his idol Thomas Alva Edison, thought that Henry should settle down in his job instead of wasting his time. But Henry was determined not to contain himself inside his comfort zone, but focused on the opportunity that he had carved for himself.
Leaders like Henry Ford are almost always defined by a continuous search for new opportunities. They are constantly striving to redefine the status quo. But this is easier said than done. Because
people tend to be happy with their current lives, they definitely do not want to disturb it. Even the most adventurous sailor needs and feels at home in a particular attitude and lifestyle.
People build comfort zones for themselves in their lives and work places. They populate these comfort zones with known events and known people. Breaking out would mean a certain amount of physical and emotional pain. Embracing a new situation would mean loss of these comfort zones. And in this process, they end up ignoring opportunities around them, though they recognize them as important.
Moral of the story :
Potential leaders normally ignore valuable opportunities for one or more of three reasons.
- People are faced with opportunities they start doubting their capabilities and resources to take charge of the opportunity. They start doubting themselves.
- They start feeling insecure about the risks surrounding the opportunity and choose to remain in their comfort zones instead.
- And third, they convince themselves that there would be grander opportunities tomorrow, when they would be better prepared and equipped.
Unfortunately, that tomorrow never comes. As people choose to ignore opportunities, their confidence levels start dipping. They start feeling pessimistic about events around them, doubting their abilities and that of the people around them.
Little do they realize that, if they utilized the opportunities that came their way, the more they would have them. And the more courage they would have to discover more of them.
I’m not really a fan of being out of my comfort zone but I’m amazed how some the best things in life happen when I step out into the open, follow my heart and let God lead the way. So Wriggle out of your comfort zone and push open that door now! Because twice the amount of opportunities will knock at your door, if you open the door the first time around.
Make it a great Week !
Shailesh
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