It was a lovely sunny Wednesday afternoon when my younger brother, a family friend and I set out to drop my immediate elder brother off at the international airport. We loaded the car (Mercedes Benz e350) with his luggage, and the four of us got into the car with the Air Condition turned on high to give us the best of comfort. As soon as we drove out, we turned on the music and the fun started. Less that 10mins into a well-planned fun trip, we encountered one of the hallmarks of Lagos brand identity; “terrific traffic”.
At that point, we assumed that it was going to be the kind of traffic that one will get by within 30mins, so we were relaxed. After about 30mins, we haven’t moved up to 20 metres from where we joined the traffic. I remembered that before we left home, one of my aunts stopped by to say hello. She left 20mins before we drove out. She was also heading towards a destination not too far from our final destination but she had to use bike (Okada) and public bus. While we started getting uncomfortable because of the time my elder brother is supposed to check-in at the airport, my phone rang. When I checked the caller, it was my aunt. She asked where we were, I told her. And she said, if my brother doesn’t want to miss his flight ️, we have to leave the comfort of that car, carry the loads on our head and face the road squarely.
She said the traffic ahead is nothing compared to what we are currently in. Immediately after the call, we had to leave the comfort of our luxury and face reality. We got off the car, carried the luggage 🧳 on our head and crossed to another lane where we boarded public transport. Less than 10mins in that bus, we met with the traffic ahead. We got off that bus and entered Okada to the point where we boarded another bus that eventually took us to the point where we took a cab that took us to the airport.
It wasn’t an easy task, but we did it anyway. The only reason why we made it and he didn’t miss his flight was because we left our comfort zone at the right time.
A lot of people are missing out on their dreams not because they don’t have what it takes to achieve their dreams, but they haven’t come to the understanding that you don’t chase a great dream being in your comfort zone. Great dreams are designed by God to stretch you. The process of stretching is not a painless process. For some people, it’s a process that will require them to stay up all night working on their computer just to complete that business plan while others are sleeping. It’s a process that will require you to learn little of a lot of things that are not related to your discipline, but are necessary for you to be a successful entrepreneur/leader.
Purposeful & deliberate goal focused discomfort is a necessity to a life of comfort. So don’t take pleasure in a comfort at the expense of your dream. Let go of that pleasure and comfort that is stopping you from chasing your dream.
*Go get your DREAM!*