07 Jun Want Success? Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable.
Want To Be Successful? Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable!
This past weekend I was de-cluttering and going through a BUNCH of old paperwork in my basement when I stumbled across my official offer letter from CSI, an executive search firm in Phoenix. The year: 1997.
I accepted the offer as “recruiter.”
I was 23 years old and had no prior knowledge that executive search firms even existed.
I was tasked with #recruiting civil engineers there locally, but literally had no idea what a civil engineer was.
My offer was $1,000 a month + $500/month bonus if I averaged 50 calls a day OR 3 hours of phone time. This structure was to last for 90 days at which point I was to move to a straight commission format.
Working on straight commission was a very uncomfortable situation, but it 💯lit a fire under my ass.
Here I am today, 25 years later, still working on straight commission.
Still uncomfortable.
Still feeling that 🔥🔥🔥!
I’ve seen PLENTY of recruiters make a placement, kick their feet up in comfort, and then 60-days later they are no where to be found.
Why?
They became comfortable. And then they failed.
Often times I speak with #civilengineers, who when presented with an opportunity, inform me that they are not interested because they are in a “comfortable” position.
Last year I took a candidate through a 3-step interview process with our client that lasted about six weeks or so.
The opportunity he was considering was EXACTLY what he was looking for. In fact, I had worked with him a year prior, took him through a process, he determined it was not a fit, but during that process it came very clear to him exactly what he wanted in his next opportunity, and I had it. He told me it was the perfect opportunity. The type of company, the leadership role, the upward mobility, the opportunity to get exposed to some different parts of the business that he would not otherwise get with his current firm.
But as we got into negotiations, he ended up back pedaling and decided to stay right. where. he. was.
Why? He was “too comfortable.”
Honestly, being comfortable is okay from time-to-time.
When I bang out a few placements back-to-back I FOR SURE enjoy some down time and maybe don’t work as hard as I was when I was making those placements.
But for me, that level of comfort I feel lasts not more than 48 hours at which point I am back on track as the discomfort of knowing I’ve got clients to serve and that I am competing against other recruiters for the same talent lights my fire.
Being too comfortable for too long leads to #complacency.
Complacency leads to mediocrity.
AND MEDIOCRITY IS THE MOTHER TO NOTHING.
SO.
If you are a #civilengineer and you find that your career is a little too comfortable, what can you do to light that 🔥under your ass?
I’d love to hear YOUR story of how you climbed out of your comfort zone and the positive impact it made on you…PLEASE SHARE IN THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW.
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