You’ve heard of the 4 stages of growth, right?  These being: unconsciously incompetent; consciously incompetent; consciously competent, and finally unconsciously competent where you’re just doing “the thing” without having to think about it.

Well there’s a little talked about 5th stage, which incidentally is an insidious trap that we can unwittingly fall into and that keeps us stuck for years!!

What is that 5th stage?

I’m talking about complacency! The sucker outer of all joy! The dreaded comfort zone, a landscape where tumbleweeds blow by!

In complacency, we cease making progress or moving mountains.  I’m not just talking about taking massive external action, I’m also talking about moving mountains internally! Internal growth and expansion.

Have you become complacent in your business? How do you know?

A good indicator is that you’re OK with the current status quo.  You’re comfortable with how things are. You’re not flying, but you’re also not in any great emotional pain. Maybe you’re actually actively doing everything to avoid discomfort, procrastinating and distracting yourself and making excuses for not taking action.

Is any of that true for you?

If so, imagine staying as you are for another 12 months. NOT doing the things that you need to do in order to grow. How will you feel if nothing changes? What will the state of your business be in 12 months time with no more progress or growth?

“If you’re not growing, you’re dying”

I believe it was Jim Rohn who said these words. The world is constantly moving and evolving so if you’re standing still, you’re actually going backwards.

This is complacency.

Do something today to shake yourself free. Lean into your edge.  This will look different for every individual so think about what it means for you.

For example, you might ring an accountant and sort your finances out once and for all.  Or you might just hit that little button and do your first ever live-stream on Social Media; Or you might reach out for help and invest in a coach or a VA to help you grow your business.

What is your edge right now?  Where are you currently consciously incompetent that you could lean into the discomfort today?  Because the fact is, you will not only instantly up-level in that area, but there’s a ripple effect that will have a profound effect on multiple areas of your life at the same time.

Discomfort isn’t going to kill you, but comfort is going to kill your business.  But, when you shift the needle on one area of your growth, you will shift the needle on your profitability!  What have you got to lose!! Try it!

I’d love you to comment below with what you’re going to do today to lean into your edge. I’ll add what I’ve been doing below too!

Peace and love

Sanae x

I’ve been leaning into the discomfort over the past few weeks in a number of areas:

1) I signed up to an 8 week comedy improvisation course.  Every Wednesday night, I drop my dog Joey at my mums and drive 20 minutes to an old theatre in a beautiful historic town called Arundel to attend the class.  You have to leave your inhibitions at the door and commit to going all in!  Comfortable it is NOT! But it’s challenging, fun and expansive all in equal measure!

2) I’ve recently embraced the benefits of micro-content for my business i.e 15-30 second reels for Insta and Tik-Tok.  This is not comfortable for me because it’s new and I was full of resistance as I couldn’t imagine how I could give value in such a short time!  I’m learning to be more concise! You can check out how I’m doing by following me here!