Are you living your half-life?

When was the last time you voluntarily stepped outside your comfort zone and took a risk big enough to make you think twice?

A friend of mine recently decided that 60 years was long enough to have stayed on the inside of every plane she’d boarded. So she went skydiving, and jumped into a completely new experience. But you don't have to be an adrenaline junkie to live life to the full. It’s about embracing any material change in your life, from applying for a new job to collaborating better with your team.

Change is often sold as being necessary to keep up, to get ahead, to stay relevant. All of which is true. But change is much more than that, at a much more personal level. Change gives us the chance to make a difference in ways the status quo can only dream of. And it gives us the opportunity to explore – and extend – the limits of what we’re capable of. Repeating what you did yesterday, and playing safe – by definition – just can’t give you that.

Being adaptable is about being open to the idea of change. And the more change you embrace, the more opportunity you have to live life to the four corners.

Think about it this way: good things in life rarely happen unless you make them happen – whether that be climbing the career ladder or scrambling for tickets to Glastonbury. But bad things in life are a guarantee – from the loss of loved ones to making mistakes. So if you’re not adaptable, you’ll be consigned to living your half-life, anxiously sitting on your hands until the stuff inevitably hits the fan which will then send you into a tailspin.

But with an adaptable mindset, you’ll be able to seize opportunities and manage threats as soon as they arise. That will give you the satisfaction of making a real difference, and the excitement of finding out what you can really do.

Life is an adventure, a gift, a privilege and a responsibility that cannot be lived to the full inside the pressurised cabin of your comfort zone. So in the immortal words of philosopher Dave Lee Roth, you might as well jump.

Rich Alderton specialises in raising adaptability intelligence and delivering executive coaching and mentoring, so if you're looking to explore beyond your comfort zone, give us a call on 07873 823 800, email us or complete our enquiry form.

And why not download Rich's new e-book here?