Thursday, April 26, 2018

Comfort Zone (सुविधा क्षेत्र) 2-on-1 #17


Comfort zone. We all have one. It's that sweet spot where we feel comfortable and confident with the task at hand. Stress levels are low. I often refer to it as my wheelhouse. The common wisdom implies you need to step outside your comfort zone to be successful.

I take exception to such a narrow interpretation of Comfort Zone. Why? We live in an increasingly specialized world. That degree of specialization allows for the development of multiple Comfort Zones. Take a company like Microsoft for example. Microsoft has multiple divisions, offers multiple products and is a very complex operation. Each division creates specialists in things like Windows, Windows security, hardware and so on. Employees develop comfort zones within their divisions. Security specialists, for example, are better at detecting malware than software engineers that do not specialize in security. And then there is the sales team. Being a successful salesperson requires a specific skill set. If the sales game is in your comfort zone odds are you will find success as long as you have a modicum of discipline and are not discouraged by the numbers game in sales - a certain percentage of folks will turn you down. Just remember that a baseball player that fails seventy percent of the times he bats is considered a great hitter.

Me? Well like everyone, I have several. Music - especially the 60s and 70s are my comfort zone but I am fairly comfortable in most pop music.

Sports - strong comfort zone, especially in regards to hockey, baseball and football. I played the latter pair and have loved hockey since I was 8 when my dad took me to Denver to see Denver University play a team from Saskatchewan.

Hunting and fishing - another typical pair of comfort zones for guys but not so much for me. I suspect if my grandfather had not passed away when I was 3 that would not be the case as he was an avid hunter/fisherman.

Cars - another typical guy thing though 2 of the biggest car fans I know happen to be ladies of the highest order. Me? not so much. During high school, there were vocational classes offered but as a 3-sport jock, I was always busy with practice when those courses were offered.

Movies - a moderate comfort zone - up until Lynn was being taken over by the Huntington's Disease that eventually killed her, we went to the movies almost every weekend. I have not been to a movie theater in about 8 years.

Books - I am a huge mystery fan so that is an obvious comfort zone. I have also firmly believed that to knopw the people of any generation, be as current as possible on the authors writing in the now -

Politics - I have a BA in Political Science - specialty in International Relations. I am admittedly a political junkie - but these days it is difficult to engage in discourse with anyone because here in the USA we are so bitterly divided. Civility has become a thing of the past, it seems. Archaeological wordsmiths
are searching for fossils as we speak. Clone teams are doing the research necessary to correct this situation. One can only hope.

Trivia - my kids both think we'd be rich if I could get on a game show - nuff said LOL.

Blogging - Blogging is definitely in my Comfort Zone. Writing this blog has been a real hoot (southern for a lot of fun). We vary topics so we never get bored, we both write on the same subject so folks get an eastern and a western perspective on the chosen topics. Plus, my partner and I get to know more about each other and we have become great friends. Of course it helps that we are both wordy older guys that love to talk - or rather type. I enjoy writing - it is as simple as that.

That concludes my small sample of Comfort Zone issues. Be sure to see what Ramana has to say by selecting this link.

6 comments:

  1. The difference in age shows up in our ideas of comfort zones. I did cover reading. music, crossword puzzles, the internet etc in my post but, more to highlight the physical comforts that the spaces in which I enjoyed them. Physical comfort for me now makes more sense than the abstract ideas. In any case, we have converged again!

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    1. we both share an affinity for a comfortable, old recliner

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  2. i enjoy following you both for the very reasons you spoke of in your next to last paragraph Shack. btw. i like calling you that. not in the least because you had a career in that one of the first and successful technological pioneers place. but because i see you somehow having your own band. or group. or whatever. and as a lead singer. (you do have some of those genes shack. or you wouldn't have performed the Polynesian dances!) and man. how i wish there were videos of those performances. would love to have seen them. i'm especially fond of that particular culture as well as other musical genres.
    i have no deep thoughts to add as to my own comfort zone(s)!
    solitude and my simple quiet home life are important to me.
    and my main comfort zone is minimalism.i love every aspect of it. clutter kills my spirit. as do loud blaring sounds whether rock music or crowds especially if i'm eating out and trying to have a great mutually interesting discussion!
    i love studying human nature. and i love to laugh. and my main comfort is reading anything and everything by an open window in all kinds of weather except EXTREME heat.
    SH

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    1. I used to despise the heat too Tammy - 'til I lived in Hawaii and got usd to it. Now Texas heat, though, wasa horse of a different breed. Blogging is great because it lets you enter into any world and still be in your minimalist comfort zone. And for the record - I cannot sing a lick - LOL

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  3. My apologies. I missed on commenting on the Hindi translation. Thank you.

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  4. I like the idea of a comfort zone being your specialization. Funny thing is that if I start to specialize too much I get uncomfortable!
    That said, I'm pretty comfortable in the Children's book realm, fantasy, and brainstorming.
    Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment!

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