New Term: Your Comfort Platform™
I travel a lot.
You want to know why?
Because I really enjoy it.
I enjoy reading about places. I enjoy documentaries. I enjoy hearing other people describe where they’ve been.
But for me – and perhaps for you as well – nothing compares to being there in person.
I travel with my wife as often as we can. Sometimes with family. And sometimes I travel by myself.
Solo travel doesn’t necessarily mean traveling alone. There are outstanding expedition companies, travel coordinators, and tour operators that make it easy to explore the world with small groups.
But when I visit somewhere I’ve already come to know, I often do something a little different.
I use that destination as a platform. A platform like a network platform, interactive and dynamic.
When I spent two weeks in Auckland, I flew down to Queenstown for a few days to experience New Zealand’s South Island, as well as a few other intriguing places.
When I spent a month in Seattle, I visited Vancouver, Spokane, Vashon Island, Coeur d’Alene, Leavenworth and Bellingham.
During a recent stay in London, I took the train to Winchester, another to Brighton on England’s south coast, rode the Eurostar beneath the English Channel, flew to Paris, and then continued by train to Bordeaux.
I love traveling this way.
It allows me to experience far more than a single city. I gain a broader understanding of the history, the people, the culture, and the cuisine. Every side trip adds another layer of understanding.
And it occurred to me that perhaps we’ve been looking at our comfort zone the wrong way.
In fact, I think – I’ve said this before – we should stop calling it a comfort zone.
Look at it as your Comfort Platform™.
It’s a term that is so descriptive and practical – an empowering metaphor – that I intend to trademark it. ASAP
Your Comfort Platform™ Is Meant to Be a Home Base – Not a Hiding Place
Perhaps we’ve misunderstood the comfort zone all along.
The popular advice is to “get out of your comfort zone.” But that suggests comfort itself is the enemy. It isn’t. Imagine instead that your Comfort Platform™ is your home base.
Every adventurer has one.
Every explorer has one.
Every successful entrepreneur, artist, scientist, and leader has one.
Home is where you:
Rest.
Recover.
Reflect.
Prepare.
Then you leave.
You climb the mountain.
You sail the ocean.
You visit unfamiliar places.
You meet new people.
You acquire new skills.
And eventually…
You come home.
Not because you failed.
Because that’s what home is for.
Your Comfort Platform™ should function much like a mountaineer’s base camp. It provides safety, supplies, encouragement, and recovery before the next ascent. It was never intended to become the summit itself.
The healthiest Comfort Platforms™ are not permanent residences.
They are launching pads.
They are springboards.
They are airports rather than parking lots.
Each journey slightly enlarges the boundaries of home.
Today’s uncomfortable conversation becomes tomorrow’s ordinary discussion.
Today’s intimidating presentation becomes tomorrow’s routine meeting.
Today’s adventure becomes tomorrow’s experience.
Growth doesn’t require abandoning comfort.
It requires repeatedly returning with greater confidence.
This is how children learn.
This is how athletes improve.
This is how careers develop.
This is how relationships deepen.
Explore.
Return.
Reflect.
Recover.
Expand.
Then venture out again.
Eventually, what once felt like foreign territory becomes part of your new home. So perhaps we shouldn’t tell people to leave their comfort zone.
Perhaps we should encourage them to use it for what it was always designed to be – a temporary home base from which to explore a larger, richer, and more meaningful life.
Use your Comfort Platform™ to refuel.
Then get out there again!
